Manual surgical ligation clip applier

ABSTRACT

A ligation clip applier is provided. The clip applier includes: a pair of jaws; a distal clevis tube to which the jaws are pivotally mounted; a proximal clevis tube located behind the distal clevis tube, wherein the distal clevis tube and the proximal clevis tubes move axially with respect to each other; a clip lock actuator fixed to one of the proximal and distal clevis tubes; and a distal pushrod extending through the distal and proximal clevis tubes and forming a camming connection with the jaws configured to close and move the jaws toward a proximal direction toward the clip lock actuator when the distal pushrod is moved in the proximal direction. A method for applying a clip on a vessel is disclosed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Divisional of pending application Ser. No.13/618,858, filed Sep. 14, 2012, which claims priority to earlier filed,now expired, U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/535,190, filed on Sep.15, 2011. This application claims priority to the above mentionedapplications and the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated byreference, in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to medical devices and, in particular, adevice for applying surgical clips for ligation of vessels or tissue.

BACKGROUND

Many surgical procedures require vessels or other fluid ducts or tissueconduits and structures to be ligated during the surgical process, suchas, for example, veins or arteries in the human body. For example, manysurgical procedures require cutting blood vessels, and these bloodvessels may require ligation to reduce bleeding. In some instances, asurgeon may wish to ligate the vessel temporarily to reduce blood flowto the surgical site during the surgical procedure. In other instances asurgeon may wish to permanently ligate a vessel. Ligation of vessels orother tissues can be performed by closing the vessel with a ligatingclip, or by suturing the vessel with surgical thread. The use ofsurgical thread for ligation requires complex manipulations of theneedle and suture material to form the knots required to secure thevessel. Such complex manipulations are time-consuming and difficult toperform, particularly in endoscopic surgical procedures, which arecharacterized by limited space and visibility. By contrast, ligatingclips are relatively easy and quick to apply. Accordingly, the use ofligating clips in endoscopic as well as open surgical procedures hasgrown dramatically.

Various types of hemostatic and aneurysm clips are used in surgery forligating blood vessels or other tissues to stop the flow of blood. Suchclips have also been used for interrupting or occluding ducts andvessels in particular surgeries such as sterilization procedures.Typically, a clip is applied to the vessel or other tissue by using adedicated mechanical instrument commonly referred to as a surgical clipapplier, ligating clip applier, or hemostatic clip applier. Generally,the clip is left in place after application to the tissue untilhemostasis or occlusion occurs.

Ligating clips can be classified according to their geometricconfiguration (e.g., symmetric clips or asymmetric clips), and accordingto the material from which they are manufactured (e.g., metal clips orpolymeric clips). Symmetric clips are generally “U” or “V” shaped andthus are substantially symmetrical about a central, longitudinal axisextending between the legs of the clip. Symmetric clips are usuallyconstructed from metals such as stainless steel, titanium, tantalum, oralloys thereof. But, with the advent of high technology diagnostictechniques using computer tomography (CATSCAN) and magnetic resonanceimaging (MRI), metallic clips have been found to interfere with theimaging techniques. To overcome such interference limitations,biocompatible polymers have been increasingly used for surgical clips.

Some well known polymeric clips are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,096and U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,846. These plastic clips generally comprise apair of curved legs joined at their proximal ends with an integral hingeor heel, and a closure or locking mechanism at their distal ends.Another example of a bio-compatible clip is shown in U.S. Pat. No.4,671,281, which includes a mechanism to be actuated on a proximal endof the clip for causing the distally extending legs of the clip toconverge. However this clip is: (i) rudimentary in construction, (ii)does not provide adequate clip closing or clamping strength, (iii) lacksany complex geometry which would adequately retain the clip in a closedposition, and further (iv) is too unstable when closed to be safelyapplied over vessels. Examples of metal hemostatic clips are shown inU.S. Pat. No. 3,326,216 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,430.

In all of the known ligating clips however, there remains a need toimprove the effectiveness of clamping about a vessel, while minimizingthe damage to the vessel and surrounding tissue. For endoscopic surgicalprocedures, it is important to use tools and instruments that have thesmallest, narrowest profile possible, such as the shafts of a tubularendoscope. Prior art polymeric and metal clips do not lend themselves todeployment through small diameter instrumentation, such as, for example,a ˜5 mm endoscope. Known prior art clips can be very wide profile,especially when in the open position prior to closure and ligation, andthus require larger, wider endoscopic instruments and appliers for usein surgery. It is desirable therefore to provide for a surgical ligationclip that has the narrowest profile possible. It may also be desirableto allow for a clip to be opened again after initial closure, which isespecially a problem with known surgical clips, such as metal hemostaticclips. Furthermore, prior art polymeric clips involve locking the distalends of their legs together in order to clamp down on the vessel orstructure being ligated. Such closure of a clip having locking parts atits distal end generally causes or requires dissection, removal, orclearance of additional surrounding tissue, in order to allow the clip'slocking features to come together, and/or due to actuation of an appliertool surrounding or applied against the distal clip ends, requiringadditional time during a surgical procedure and damage to tissue. Inother cases, the user may choose not to prepare a path for the lockingfeatures and rely on the locking features penetrating through thetissue. In these cases, the locking feature may have difficultypenetrating the tissue or may have difficulty locking after it haspenetrated the tissue. This technique may also result in unintendedpenetration of tissue or vessels.

Therefore it is desirable to provide a clip and a method and/or devicefor applying the clip which minimizes such dissection of tissue duringapplication. It is further desirable to provide a clip which provides aproper, well-calibrated, reliable clamping force, such that the clip,when closed, is stable around the vessel ligated.

Accordingly, there is a need to provide an improved surgical ligatingclip and a method and/or device for applying the clip, where the clipserves to reliably secure the tissue or vessel engaged by the clip,while robustly remaining attached to the vessel with a minimum level ofdamage to tissue.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides, in one or more embodiments, a surgical ligationclip and a device and/or a method of applying the clip to a vessel ortissue. The device may contain a plurality of claims and may apply afirst clip to a vessel or tissue and advance a second clip contained inthe applier to an applying position.

In another aspect of the invention, a method of applying a surgicalligation clip includes positioning the clip in an open positionproximate an inner anatomical body vessel, the clip having first andsecond legs each extending along a longitudinal axis of the clip andhaving proximal and distal end portions with respect to saidlongitudinal axis, a clip hinge means joining the first and second legsat a point on their respective proximal end portions, the first andsecond legs each having inner clamping surface means between the cliphinge and the distal end portions of said first and second legs, theclamping surface means being apposed when the clip is in a fully closedposition, and a locking means for biasing the legs closed extendingproximal to the clip hinge means. An external force is appliedsubstantially along the longitudinal axis to a proximal end portion ofone of the legs which forms a portion of the locking means, to move abody formed as a first part of said locking means from a first positionto a second position to provide an abutment force between a curvedplanar segment abutment portion of said body and a curved surface formedon a second part of said locking means disposed on the first leg to biasthe clip in a closed position. The method may further include moving theclip through an instrument prior to positioning the clip proximate thevessel, and may also further include that a portion of the instrumentopens the clip from a closed position to an open position.

In some embodiments, a ligation clip applier is provided. The applierincludes: a pair of jaws; a distal clevis tube to which the jaws arepivotally mounted; a proximal clevis tube located behind the distalclevis tube, wherein the distal clevis tube and the proximal clevistubes move axially with respect to each other; a clip lock actuatorfixed to one of the proximal and distal clevis tubes; and a distalpushrod extending through the distal and proximal clevis tubes andforming a camming connection with the jaws configured to close and movethe jaws toward a proximal direction toward the clip lock actuator whenthe distal pushrod is moved in the proximal direction.

A method of applying a clip on a vessel is provided. The method mayinclude: retaining a clip in a pair of jaws by inclined surfaces on adistal portion on each leg of the clip with a corresponding inclinedsurfaces on the jaws; moving a distal pushrod in a proximal direction;sliding projections along a slot in at least one jaw to rotate the atleast one jaw to a closed position; and moving the legs of the clip byclosing the jaws.

In some embodiments, a ligation clip applier is provided. The appliermay include: means for pinching; a distal clevis tube to which the meansfor pinching are pivotally mounted; a proximal clevis tube locatedbehind the distal clevis tube, wherein the distal clevis tube and theproximal clevis tubes move axially with respect to each other; means forlocking a clip fixed to one of the proximal and distal clevis tubes; andmeans for moving the means for pinching extending through the distal andproximal clevis tubes and forming a camming connection with the meansfor pinching configured to close and move the means for pinching towarda proximal direction toward the means for locking a clip when the meansfor moving the means for pinching is moved in the proximal direction.

The applier is a manually loaded instrument used to deploy proximallocking polymeric ligation clips. The manual applier will load/apply asingle clip at a time. The applier is an endoscopic instrument suitablefor use in laparoscopic surgery applications.

The polymeric clips will be positioned in clip cartridges. The clipswill then be loaded into the applier manually by pressing the distal endof the applier down on the end of the clip. The will be guided byfeatures on the cartridge and will grab the clip in the clip catchmechanism internal to the applier. When the applier is pulled away fromthe cartridge the clip will release from the cartridge and stay internalto the applier. A clip indicator internal to the applier will indicatethat a clip is present at the proximal end of the applier shaft. Thiswill allow the user to know a clip is present prior to and duringinsertion/manipulation of the applier.

The jaws will be able to actuate without disturbing the loaded clip.This allows the jaws to be used in the dissection and grasping of tissuearound the vessel being ligated if necessary.

In a first embodiment of the invention; the jaws of the applier willclamp over the vessel to flatten the section to be ligated. The clip isopened internally in the applier by a set of wedges during clip load.The clip is then positioned over the vessel and subsequently closed withactuation of the wedges and catch mechanism. Once closed, a punchmechanism will engage the locking feature to maintain the clampingpressure of the clip. The jaws then will open allowing the ligatedvessel and clip to clear the applier jaws.

In a seconded embodiment of the invention; the clip is positioned overthe vessel with actuation of the wedge and catch mechanism and issubsequently closed when a punch mechanism is engaged with the lockingfeature on the clip. The features of the clip lock cause the legs of theclip to close and once fully locked the clip maintains the clampingpressure on the vessel.

Each of the distal end actuations are accomplished through the use of aproximal handle. The handle is made of a housing and rotation knob,which allow for a 360° continuous rotation of the distal end, separatetriggers for jaw actuation and clip functions, and a multi stagetransmission that allows the distal end to be actuated in the propersequence for effective clip delivery.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, certain embodiments of theinvention in order that the detailed description thereof herein may bebetter understood, and in order that the present contribution to the artmay be better appreciated. There are additional embodiments and featuresof the invention that will be described below.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of theinvention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited in its application to the details of construction and to thearrangements of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of embodiments inaddition to those described and of being practiced and carried out invarious ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology andterminology employed herein, as well as the abstract, are for thepurpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a view of a first embodiment of a surgical ligation clip ofthe present invention.

FIGS. 2a, 2b, and 2c show side, top, and bottom views respectively, ofthe clip shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show perspective views of the clip shown in FIG. 1 from afirst side.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the clip shown in FIG. 1 from theside opposite to that shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 6 is another side view of the clip shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6a is a close-up detail view of the portion of the clip shown inFIG. 6 in region “6 a” therein.

FIG. 6b is a sectional view of the clip shown in FIG. 6 taken alongsection B-B in the direction shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 is another side view of the clip shown in FIG. 1 from theopposite side to that shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 7a is a close-up detail view of the portion of the clip shown inFIG. 7 in region “7A” therein.

FIG. 7b is a sectional view of the clip shown in FIG. 7 taken alongsection C-C in the direction shown in FIG. 7.

FIGS. 8a, 8b, and 8c , are side, top, and bottom views, respectively, ofthe clip shown in FIG. 1 in an open position.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view from the bottom of the clip shown in FIG.8a in the open position.

FIG. 10 is a perspective side view from the top of the clip shown inFIG. 8a in the open position.

FIGS. 11a, 11b, and 11c show side, top, and bottom views respectively,of the clip shown in FIG. 1, with the proximal locking components inlocked position.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view from the top of the clip shown in FIG. 11a.

FIG. 13 is a side view of the clip shown in FIG. 11 a.

FIG. 13a is a close-up detail view of the portion of the clip shown inFIG. 13 in region “13 a” therein.

FIG. 14 is a side view of the clip shown in FIG. 11a from the sideopposite to that shown in FIG. 13.

FIG. 14a is a close-up detail view of the portion of the clip shown inFIG. 14 in region “14 a” therein.

FIG. 15 is a view of the clip shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 15a is a close-up detail view of the portion of the clip shown inFIG. 15 in region “15 a” therein.

FIG. 16 shows a side view of an applier.

FIG. 17 shows an applier clamped on vessel.

FIG. 18 shows an isometric view of clip latched on vessel.

FIG. 19 shows a clip latched on vessel.

FIG. 20 shows an exploded view of applier parts.

FIG. 21 shows a wedge.

FIG. 22 shows a catch.

FIG. 23 shows a punch.

FIG. 24 shows a clip indicator.

FIG. 25 shows an inner tube.

FIG. 26 shows a jaw/inner tube camming.

FIG. 27 shows a jaw/inner tube cam points.

FIGS. 28a, 28b and 28c shows jaws.

FIG. 29 shows an outer tube.

FIG. 30 shows an applier shaft distal end.

FIG. 31 shows an applier shaft proximal end.

FIG. 32 shows loaded clips in cartridge.

FIG. 33 shows a cross section view of loaded clip.

FIG. 34 shows clip legs held by detents in cartridge.

FIGS. 35 and 36 shows a clip cartridge.

FIG. 37 shows an approach to cartridge for clip load.

FIG. 38 shows a clip load.

FIG. 39 shows an approach to clip cartridge (cartridge and clip notshown).

FIG. 40 shows a clip load (cartridge not shown).

FIG. 41 shows a clip loaded.

FIG. 42 shows jaws closed.

FIG. 43 shows a clip advance into jaw over vessel.

FIG. 44 shows a clip advanced over vessel wedges begin to advance.

FIG. 45 shows wedges advance to close clip.

FIG. 46 shows a punch latches clip on vessel.

FIG. 47 shows a punch moves up to buttress.

FIG. 48 shows a buttress rotating as the punch moves forward.

FIG. 49 shows a clip just before latch.

FIG. 50 shows a clip locked.

FIG. 51 shows wedges retract.

FIG. 52 shows wedges fully retracted.

FIG. 53 shows a punch retracting.

FIG. 54 shows a clip free/jaws open.

FIG. 55 shows a punch fully retracted.

FIG. 56 shows an internal end view of an applier shaft.

FIG. 57 shows an end view of applier with jaws open and clip loaded.

FIG. 58 shows a isometric view of distal end of applier.

FIG. 59 shows a isometric view of distal end of applier shaft with cliploaded.

FIG. 60 shows a clip viewport.

FIG. 61 shows a second embodiment of the applier.

FIG. 62 shows a second embodiment—catch tube with wedges and catches.

FIG. 63 shows a second embodiment—catches and wedges.

FIG. 64 shows an applier handle.

FIG. 65 shows a handle configuration (outer shell hidden).

FIG. 66 shows trigger components.

FIG. 67 shows a handle configuration (upper trigger hidden).

FIG. 68 shows internal handle components.

FIG. 69 shows multistage transmission components.

FIG. 70 shows an assembled multistage transmission.

FIG. 71 shows a transmission outer shell and with the Leur port removed.

FIG. 72 shows a transmission with the jaw actuator links removed.

FIG. 73 shows a transmission with the catch pusher latches and dowelsremoved.

FIG. 74 shows a transmission with the punch latch interlock and dowelremoved.

FIG. 75 shows a transmission with the center spindle and dowel removed.

FIG. 76 shows a transmission with the punch return spring removed(distal shaft connection points shown).

FIG. 77 shows a cross-section of the transmission where the jaws areopen (clip loaded),

FIG. 78 shows a cross-section of the transmission where the jaws areclosed (clip loaded).

FIG. 79 shows a cross-section of the transmission where the clip isadvanced.

FIG. 80 shows a cross-section of the transmission where the clip isclosed.

FIG. 81 shows a cross-section of the transmission where the clip islatched.

FIG. 82 shows a cross-section of the transmission where the wedgesreturn.

FIG. 83 shows a cross-section of the transmission where the connectionpins are no longer in the pocket.

FIG. 84 shows a cross-section of the transmission where the punch isunlatched.

FIG. 85 shows a cross-section of the transmission where the clip is freefrom the device.

FIG. 86 shows a cross-section of the transmission where the punch springhas returned.

FIG. 87 shows an isometric view of a transmission in an embodiment thatdoes not have a punch latch interlock.

FIG. 88 shows an exploded isometric view of another embodiment showingmultistage transmission components;

FIG. 89 shows a cross-section of the transmission where the jaws areopen (clip loaded).

FIG. 90 shows a cross-section of the transmission where the jaws areclosed (clip loaded).

FIG. 91 shows a cross-section of the transmission where the clip isadvanced (wedges and catch move together).

FIG. 92 shows a cross-section of the transmission where the clip islatched.

FIGS. 93-97 show side views of an applier in some FIGS. internalcomponents are exposed and illustrated.

FIG. 98 is a side view of another clip used in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 99 is a top view of a clip illustrated in FIG. 98.

FIG. 100 is a isometric view of the clip illustrated in FIG. 98.

FIG. 101 is an isometric view of a clip applied onto tissue or a bloodvessel.

FIG. 102 is a side view of a clip locked onto a tissue or blood vessel.

FIG. 103 is a isometric view of a distal end of applier.

FIG. 104 is a isometric view of a shaft assembly.

FIG. 105 is a isometric view of a handle assembly.

FIG. 106 is an isometric view of a clip cartridge.

FIG. 107 is an isometric view of a jaw.

FIG. 108 is an isometric view of a pivot rivet.

FIG. 109 is an isometric view of a distal locking clevis tube.

FIG. 110 is an isometric view of a proximal locking clevis tube.

FIG. 111 is an isometric view of an actuation shaft.

FIG. 112 is an isometric view of a spring.

FIG. 113 is an isometric view of a clip lock actuator.

FIG. 114 is an isometric view of a distal pushrod.

FIG. 115 is a partial isometric view of applier jaws.

FIG. 116 is a partial isometric view of a distal portion of an applier.

FIG. 117 is an isometric, cross-sectional, partial view of a portion ofan applier.

FIGS. 118-120 are partial cutaway views of the distal portion of anapplier.

FIG. 121 is a partial distal view of a midsection of an applier.

FIG. 122 is a partial cutaway view of the jaws of applier.

FIG. 123 is a side view of another clip that may be used in accordancewith invention.

FIG. 124 is a side view of the clip shown FIG. 123 and a closedposition.

FIG. 125 is a isometric view of the clip illustrated in FIG. 123.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will now be described with reference to the drawingfigures, in which like parts are referred to with like referencenumerals throughout. Clips that may be used in accordance with someembodiments of the invention are described in U.S. provisional patentapplication No. 61/312,156, filed on Mar. 9, 2010, and U.S.non-provisional application Ser. No. 13/042,864, filed on Mar. 8, 2011by Philip Schmidt, et al. the disclosures of which are both incorporatedby reference in their entirety.

FIG. 1 shows a view of a first embodiment of a surgical ligation clip100 in accordance with present invention. The clip 100 defines alongitudinal axis “L” along its longest dimension and includes a firstleg 101 and a second leg 102 each extending along the longitudinal axisL and having proximal 111, 112 and distal 121, 122 end portions withrespect to said longitudinal axis. As used herein, the term “proximal”shall refer to the portion of the clip referenced herein which is awayfrom the tips of the clip which open, and “distal” shall refer to theportion of the clip at the tips which open, in accordance with theconvention that the clip is inserted distal tip first through aninstrument towards an anatomical body to be ligated, such that distalgenerally refers to the direction away from the user or applier of thesurgical clip and proximal refers to the direction opposite to distal.

In clip 100, a clip hinge 130 joins the first and second legs 101, 102at a point on their respective proximal end portions 111, 112, the firstand second legs each having respective inner clamping surfaces 131, 132between the clip hinge 130 and the distal ends 123, 124 of said firstand second legs, the clamping surfaces being apposed when the clip is ina fully closed position. As used herein, the term “apposed” when usedwith regard to the inner clamping surfaces 131, 132 shall mean close to,or nearly in contact with each other, allowing for some small spacingtherebetween or a concave radius of curvature for the clamping surfaces,such to allow for a clipped vessel to reside between such apposedsurfaces, as is more fully illustrated herein and with respect to thedrawing figures. The clip hinge 130 can include a bar or cylindricallyshaped body or tube which defines a lateral pivot axis “P” (shown inFIGS. 2b and 2c ) about which the legs 101 and 102 pivot as the clipmoves from open to closed position and vice versa. A first jaw structure141 on the first leg 101 extends proximal to a transverse axis “T” whichis perpendicular to both the longitudinal axis L and lateral pivot axisP, all intersecting at a point “X” centered on the clip hinge 130, asshown in FIG. 1. As used throughout herein, the term “lateral” shalldirectionally mean orthogonal to both the directions of the longitudinalaxis L and transverse axis T, and parallel to pivot axis P as shown inthe figures. The first jaw structure 141 includes a first curved innersurface 143 extending from the clip hinge 130, the first curved innersurface 143 having a complex surface which is oriented at changingangles with respect to, but is generally facing towards, thelongitudinal axis L, as shown in FIG. 1. The curved inner surface 143 istherefore substantially concave when viewed from the longitudinal axis(or plane spanning the longitudinal axis and pivot axis). As usedherein, the term “substantially concave” shall mean a surface which isconcave in overall curvature, but which may include one or morecomponent areas which may have convex segments or protrusions, such as anotch surface or recess for mating thereto. A second jaw structure 142is on the second leg 102 extending proximal to the transverse axis T andhas a second curved inner surface 144 extending from the clip hinge 130.As used herein, the “curved inner surface” can include either a singlesmoothly curved surface segment, or a series of connected curved orstraight planar segments, which, taken together, form an overallgenerally curving surface. As described herein, the surgical clip of thepresent invention provides that the jaws 141 and 142 are eachsubstantially proximal to a transverse plane extending throughtransverse axis T and lateral pivot axis P, thus behind the clip hinge130, thereby providing a means for actuating the clip legs 101 and 102and biasing or locking the clip and its mating faces 131, 132 in aclosed position, which biasing or locking means can be actuated and/orapplied by acting only on the proximal end portions of the clip 100,without having to lock the distal ends 123, 124 to each other or use aclip applier tool which acts on said distal ends 123, 124, therebyobviating the need to dissect tissue around the distal end of the clipas in previously known surgical ligation clips.

As shown in FIG. 1, the means for biasing or locking the clip closedincludes a wedge or buttress body 150 which extends from and isconnected to the second jaw structure 142 by a first living hinge 160 ata proximal end of said second jaw structure 142, the buttress body 150having an outer surface 151 at a proximal first end portion thereof,which is also disposed approximately as the proximal end of the clip 100overall. The first and second jaw structures 141, 142 are spaced onopposite sides of the longitudinal axis L and define a locking space 170therebetween. The wedge or buttress body 150 is pivotable about theliving hinge 160 to move into the locking space 170 such that the outersurface 151 of the proximal first end portion of the buttress body 150abuts against a proximal portion 145 of the curved inner surface 143 ofthe first jaw structure 141 to bias the clip in a closed position (asbest shown in FIGS. 11a , and 12-14). Although the clip 100 is shown inFIG. 1 in a closed position, this is with the locking means of the firstand second jaws 141, 142 and buttress body 150 being in the “unlocked”position as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 a, and 3-7. Once the buttress body is inthe “locked” position as shown in FIGS. ha and 12-14, the first andsecond jaws 141, 142 are urged or spread apart (shown, as an example, byarrows “J1” and “J2” in FIGS. 13a and 14a ) by action of surfaces of thewedge/buttress body 150 acting on portions of curved inner surfaces 143,144, which act as moments about the clip hinge 130 and lateral pivotaxis P to urge the legs 101, 102 and its inner clamping surfaces 131,132 to become more closely apposed to each other, thereby providingadditional clamping and closing force over a vessel around which theclip is applied.

A variety of means may be used to actuate the wedge or buttress body 150from the unlocked position in FIG. 1 to the locked position shown inFIGS. 11a , 12-14. As shown in FIG. 1, an external force, shown, forexample, as arrow “F” in FIG. 1, may be applied to a proximal end of thepivoting buttress body 150, in this example the external force F beingsubstantially aligned with the longitudinal axis L. Alternatively, theexternal force applied may be at a small angle to the longitudinal axisL, such as, for example, a force shown by arrow “F*” shown in FIG. 1. Ineither case, the applied external force will create a moment aboutliving hinge 160 to pivot the buttress body 150 into the locking space170. The external force may be applied by an actuating rod or otherstructural means in an applier instrument, or may be another clip as fedthrough a multi-clip applier. As one example, the clip 100 may beinserted through an instrument having a bore or channel for receivingthe clip 100, through which the clip 100 may travel distally forpositioning near a vessel during a surgical procedure. The clip may beinserted in a legs closed position, but with the proximal locking meansincluding buttress body 150 in open, unlocked position. Because the clip100 can be inserted in such fashion in closed form, the clip forms anarrow profile and can fit in smaller sized surgical instruments,thereby allowing for smaller incisions and tissue dissection or damageduring surgery. A rod or other actuating mechanism translating ormoveable on the instrument inserting the clip, or a second instrument orsecond clip used in conjunction with the instrument used for insertingand positioning the clip in place, maybe used to lock the clip byapplication of an external force on the proximal end portion of the clipas discussed above.

Thus, a method of applying a surgical ligation clip on a vessel inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention includes positioning aclip, such as, for example, clip 100, in an open position proximate avessel, the clip having first and second legs each extending along alongitudinal axis of the clip and having proximal and distal endportions with respect to said longitudinal axis, a clip hinge meansjoining the first and second legs at a point on their respectiveproximal end portions, the first and second legs each having innerclamping surface means between the clip hinge and the distal endportions of said first and second legs, the clamping surface means beingapposed when the clip is in a fully closed position. A locking means forbiasing the legs closed may extend proximal to a transverse axisperpendicular to the longitudinal axis intersecting at a point centeredon the clip hinge. The method includes applying an external force to aproximal end portion of the clip or of one of the legs which forms aportion of the locking means, to move a body formed as a first part ofsaid locking means from a first position to a second position to providean abutment force between said body and a surface formed on a secondpart of said locking means to bias the clip in a closed position. In themethod, an instrument may be used, wherein, in moving the clip throughthe instrument prior to positioning the clip proximate a vessel, aportion of the instrument opens the clip from a closed position to anopen position, such that the legs of the clip open for placement of theclip around a vessel. The locking means may then be applied to theproximal end portion of the clip to move and bias the legs closed andclamp the clip more fully over the vessel.

In FIG. 1, the clamping surfaces appear substantially parallel to eachother, oriented, in the clip closed position, substantially or veryclose to parallel to a plane extending through the longitudinal axis Land lateral pivot axis P. However, in an embodiment of the invention,the inner clamping surfaces 131, 132 may be slightly curved concave whenfacing said surfaces, such that the surfaces bow away from thelongitudinal axis L and straighten slightly when clamping force isapplied by action of the locking mechanism of the buttress body 150acting against jaws 141, 142. This allows for enhanced grasping andocclusion of vessels around which the clip 100 is applied, wherein theclamping force is spread more evenly across the clamping surface.

The living hinge 160 connecting the wedge or buttress body 150 to thesecond jaw 142 can be integral to the second jaw 142 such that the clipbody of second leg 102 proximal to transverse axis T extends as a singleunitary structure including the second jaw 142 and entire wedge orbuttress body 150. Accordingly, in the wedge or buttress body 150, alateral beam or curved body 152 connects the living hinge 160 to therest of the buttress body 150, which beam 152 curves from the livinghinge 160 (which is separated by a distance from the longitudinal axisL) towards the longitudinal axis L. As shown in FIG. 1 portions of wedgeof buttress body 150 can be oriented on both sides of longitudinal axisL. The pivot axis of living hinge 160 extends in a lateral directionparallel the lateral pivot axis P of the main clip hinge 130.

The present invention provides, in various embodiments, a lockingmechanism cooperating between the buttress body 150 and another portionof the clip. In the clip 100 shown in FIG. 1, the proximal end portion145 of the curved inner surface 143 of the first jaw structure 141defines a notch 147 recessed from said curved inner surface 143, and thebuttress body 150 defines a detent 157 formed on the outer surfacethereof, the detent 157 mating with the notch 147 when the buttress body150 is pivoted into the locking space 170 to bias the clip in the closedposition, as best shown in FIGS. 11a , 12, and 14.

FIGS. 2a, 2b, and 2c show side, top, and bottom views respectively, ofthe clip shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2b , the wedge or buttressbody 150 can be divided into two lateral sections or portions 150 a and150 b, each on opposite sides of the longitudinal axis L as shown, andcan form approximate lateral halves of the buttress body 150, with apossible space or small channel in-between. Lateral portion 150 b of thebuttress body 150 can have a width in a plane spanning the transverseand longitudinal axes sufficient to exceed a complementary width formedby the locking space 170 to create an interference fit between theproximal end portion 145 of the curved inner surface 143 of the firstjaw structure 141 and the outer surfaces 151 a, 151 b on the proximalfirst end portion outer surface 151 of the buttress body 150, to biasthe clip in a closed position. An example of the transverse width ofsaid lateral portion 150 b is shown as distance “TW1” in FIG. 7a , withcomplementary width “TW2” being formed by the locking space 170, itbeing understood that TW1 is slightly greater than TW2 in order tocreate the interference fit. In the embodiment as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 b,and 7 a, on lateral portion 150 b there is no detent 157, and saidlateral portion 150 b of the buttress body is formed by a partiallateral width of the buttress body 150. Thus, as shown in FIG. 2b , thenotch 147 and detent 157 are formed on corresponding partial lateralsections or slices of the buttress body 150 and first jaw structure 141,respectively, this lateral section 150 a of buttress body 150 being onthe opposite side thereof to the lateral section 150 b. In this manner,the buttress body 150, once locked into place as shown in FIG. 12, isprevented from moving laterally from side to side since the notch 147and detent 157 interlock only extends laterally partially across theclip, the detent 157 being limited in lateral movement by a shoulder 187formed by a termination of the notch 147 laterally into the first jawstructure 141, as shown in FIG. 9. As shown in FIG. 8b , the lateralslice of buttress body 150 only extends for a lateral width LW1 whichincludes detent 157, which the lateral slice LW2 of buttress body 150 onthe other side of the clip does not include the detent 157. In thismanner, the proximal locking mechanism of the clip 100 is more stable inlateral directions, which is also useful for keeping all parts of theclip together in the event the living hinge 160 may break.

As best shown on FIG. 5, the outer surface 151 on proximal first endportion of buttress body 150 on a proximal end of the clip 100 definesone or more surfaces which form a curved planar segment abutmentportion, which in the embodiment as shown includes curved planar segmentabutment portions 151 a and 151 b. As used herein, the “curved planarsegment abutment portion” formed by a surface may include a singlecurved surface segment or a series of curved or straight planar surfacesegments connected to one another which form an overall generally curvedsurface, each of the surface segments extending as a surface at leastlaterally. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, curved planar segmentabutment portion 151 a included planar and curved surface segmentsformed by the notch 157 and extends laterally for about one-half of thelateral width of clip 100, curved planar segment abutment portion 151 bincludes planar and curved surface segments which also extend laterallyfor about one-half of the lateral width of clip 100. Each of the curvedplanar segment abutment portions 151 a and 151 b on outer surface 151forms a substantial abutment surface that pushes against complementarycurved inner surfaces of jaw 141 to provide a stronger and more stablelocking mechanism for clip 100. This is provided, at least in part, bythe relatively larger and wider surface areas, lateral spans, andsegmented surfaces with interlock and abut against each other to provideenhanced holding strength and stability, beyond what has been previouslyknown or practiced in the field of surgical ligation clips.

As best shown in FIG. 6a , the second curved inner surface 144 on thesecond jaw structure 142 forms a first laterally spanning recessedgroove 146 separated from the clip hinge 130 and a first laterallyspanning ball-shaped or rounded protruding surface 148 proximal to saidrecessed groove 146, and a distal second end portion of the buttressbody 150 forms a second laterally spanning recessed groove 158 and asecond laterally spanning ball-shaped or rounded protruding surface 156distal to said second recessed groove which are shaped complementary tothe first rounded surface 148 and first recessed groove 146,respectively, so as to mate in abutment when the buttress body 150 ispivoted into the locking space 170 to further stabilize and bias theclip in a closed position. The first recessed groove 146, first roundedsurface 148, second recessed groove 158, and second rounded surface 156may extend laterally all the way across the lateral width of thebuttress body 150, such that the first rounded surface 148 and secondrounded surface 156 are not spherically shaped but rather form anextended, laterally-spanning, rounded, semi-cylindrical surface whichcan mate in corresponding semi-cylindrical shaped grooves formed byfirst recessed groove 146 and second recessed groove 158.

As shown in FIG. 6a , the buttress body 150 can further define a secondliving hinge 162 extending laterally between the proximal first endportion 150 c of buttress body 150 and a distal second end portion 150d, wherein the proximal first end portion 150 c including outer surface151 further pivots about said second living hinge 162 when the buttressbody 150 moves into the locking space 170, allowing the outer surface151 of the proximal first end portion 150 c of the buttress body to flextowards the longitudinal axis L prior to abutment against the curvedinner surface 143 of the first jaw structure 141.

As best shown in FIGS. 5 and 12, the outer surface of the proximal endof the buttress body 150, or clip 100 itself, defines a V- or L-shapedlaterally spanning notch 150 x on the proximal end of the clip 100 andfurther defines a laterally spanning flange 150 y extending from saidnotch 150 x adjacent to the curved planar segment abutment portions 151a and 151 b. Each of notch 150 x and flange 150 y may be divided intotwo lateral sections or components divided by a small space or channelthere between as they are disposed on the lateral sectional halves 150 aand 150 b of the buttress body 150. The notch 150 x provides a receivingspace for the tip of an instrument, pushing or actuating rod, or anotherclip, so as to enable a more stable actuation of the buttress body 150into locking space 170 to lock the clip 100. The flange 150 y may act tolimit the movement of buttress body 150 once fully inserted into lockedposition inside space 170, and also further stabilizes the lockingmechanism for the clip 100.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-15, the buttress body may occupy amajority of a volume defined by locking space 170 when it is moved intoclip locked position so as to bias the legs 101, 102 in a closedposition. The volume defined by the locking space is limited by thelateral width of the clip legs 101, 102 near the hinge 130 and the jaws141 and 142. As shown in FIG. 13a , the remaining locking space 170′between jaws 141 and 142, once the clip is locked by movement of thebuttress body 150 into space 170, is less than half the volume of thelocking space 170 as shown in FIG. 6a . The presence of a bulky bodylike buttress body 150 which occupies the majority of the volume orspace between proximal extending jaws 141 and 142 when the clip 100 isin the locked position further provides a greater strength and stabilityto the locking of said clip.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-15, and as shown in FIG. 6a , thebuttress body 150 can be characterized in one way as having a core masswhich has, in a transverse plane spanning the longitudinal andtransverse axes, a cross-section which approximately spans a trapezoidalshape, having rounded curved sides extending from the sides TP1, TP2,TP3, TP4 of the trapezoid. Side TP1 defines the longest side and one ofthe parallel sides of the trapezoid, while side TP2 defines the shorterparallel side. Side TP3 defines the longer and more distal of thenon-parallel sides, while side TP4 defines the shorter and more proximalnon-parallel side. Side TP1 is therefore connected to sides TP3 and TP4.When the clip is in the unlocked position as shown in FIG. 6a , and thebuttress body 150 is fully extended away from the clip hinge 130 out inthe most proximal position, the vertex TPX1 of sides TP1 and TP4 liesapproximately on or near the longitudinal axis L, and side TP1 makes anangle α below the longitudinal axis, towards proximal jaw 142, suchangle α being, in one embodiment, approximately 30 degrees. As shown inFIG. 6a , the rounded laterally-spanning protuberance 156 extendssubstantially from side TP3.

The clip hinge 130 can also be a resilient hinge providing additionalbiasing force to maintain the inner clamping surfaces 131, 132 of thelegs towards a closed position. A span of each leg extending from theclip hinge 130 to its respective distal tip 123, 124, can be, in oneembodiment of the present invention, at least 75% to 80% of an overalllength of the clip. As shown in FIGS. 2b and 2c , the clip hinge 130 candefine lateral bosses which extend laterally from the side surfaces ofthe clip legs, defining a bossed width or span which is greater than theclip width.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-15, the clip hinge 130 is formed as alaterally extending bar 130 x integrally formed with the first andsecond legs 101, 102, each leg being resiliently coupled to first andsecond transverse sides of said bar, the bar 130 x further defininglaterally spanning grooves 130 a and 130 b on longitudinally distal andproximal sides of the bar, respectively. These grooves 130 a and 130 bfurther enable the clip 100 to flex as pivoting about the lateral axisof hinge 130, and further provide a resilient pivoting moment or forceabout said hinge.

Furthermore, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-15, flanges 191 and 192extend longitudinally across respective outer surfaces of each of thefirst and second legs 101, 102 which are on opposite sides to the innerclamping surfaces 131, 132 of each respective leg, the flange 191 of thefirst leg 101 extending from the first jaw structure 141 to the distalend portion 121 of the first leg 101, the flange 192 of the second leg102 extending from the second jaw structure 142 to the distal endportion 122 of the second leg 102. Each of the flanges 191, 192 definesa transverse indentation 191 a, 192 a proximate the distal end portions121, 122 of the legs 101, 102. The flanges 191 and 192 provide arigidity to legs 101 and 102, respectively, such that said legs do noteasily bend. Transverse indentations 191 a and 192 a provide a means fora clip applier to better actuate or grip the legs 101, 102.

The clip 100 further includes serrations, ridges, or teeth 181, 182 onthe inner clamping surfaces 131 and 132, respectively, as shown in FIGS.6b and 7b , and 9, 10, and 15 a. The teeth or ridges 181, 182 provideadditional grasping means to better attach and clamp the clip 100 onto avessel when closed. The teeth or ridges 181, 182 are disposed to fitinto complementarily arranged grooves 183 and 184 on the clampingsurfaces 131 and 132, respectively. The teeth 181, 182 may have aslanted orientation, extending proximally, so as to better grip tissue.As best shown in FIGS. 6-6 a and 7-7 a, a pair of distal hook elements194 and 195 may be disposed on the absolute distal tips of legs 101 and102, respectively, each hook 194 and 195 offset laterally with respectto each other to form a scissor-like configuration, such that each hook194 and 195 fit into corresponding recesses 195 a and 194 a,respectively, on the distal tips of legs 102 and 101, respectively. Thismechanism provides means to further grip and contain tissue with thespace between the clamping surfaces 131, 132 when the clip 100 isapplied to body vessel, as illustrated in FIGS. 19 and 20.

The clip 100 may be in a range of sizes. As shown in FIG. 15, an overalllength “S1” of the clip 100 may be approximately 0.50 inches; the length“S2”, between the intersection of transverse axis T and longitudinalaxis L centered at clip hinge 130 and the distal tip of the clip, may beapproximately 0.40 inches, and the radius of curvature of the innermating or clamping surfaces 131, 132 of the legs 101, 102 may beapproximately 3.0 inches. Such sizes and dimensions are given as anexample, and it is understood that the clip may, in one or moreembodiments of the invention, vary in size ranging from approximately0.15 to 0.80 inches in overall longitudinal length, and fromapproximately 0.03 to 0.15 inches in lateral width. As one embodiment ofthe invention, the illustration of clip 100 in FIG. 15 is shown as ascaled magnification of actual size, and shows all the parts of the clip100 in actual proportion to each other.

The instrumentation used to deploy the clips discussed herein mayinclude a manually loaded device that can apply a single clip at a time,or an automatically fed, multiclip applier. Both appliers can beendoscopic instruments suitable for use in laparoscopic surgeryapplications. In both cases the applier will clamp over the vessel toflatten the section to be ligated. The clip will then be opened,positioned over the vessel and closed. Once closed, a mechanism willengage the locking feature on the proximal end of the clips disclosedherein, to maintain the clamping pressure of the clip. A manual applierwill load/apply a single clip at a time. An automatic applier will beable to load/apply multiple clips before the instrument has to beremoved from the surgical site. The sequence of clip application is asfollows:

-   -   1. The clip is presented in the partially closed condition.    -   2. A device, such as a set of applier jaws clamps down on the        vessel or tissue to be ligated or clamped. The applier jaws have        a channel down the center that is just large enough to allow the        clip to fit in the channel.    -   3. The clip is opened by pressing the proximal legs together        lightly.    -   4. The clip is advanced over the vessel or tissue that is        clamped within the jaws of the applier (the clip traveling in        the channel area of the applier jaws).    -   5. Once fully advanced, the proximal legs are released and the        clip springs back to the partially closed condition.    -   6. The proximal locking mechanisms discussed for the clip        embodiments disclosed herein are actuated or pressed, causing        the legs or ‘clamping section’ of the clips to close tightly on        the vessel or tissue.

The various embodiments of the clips disclosed herein therefore canstart in an as-molded state; can be opened further to better encapsulatethe vessel; and can then be closed further (into a third state). Thisprocess of opening and closing the clip can be repeated as needed, priorto locking. When closed and locked, the clip provides an active clampingforce which can also squeeze the vessel, which is beneficial if thevessel necroses and/or shrinks over time.

The various embodiments of the surgical clips of the present inventionare preferably made of one or more polymer materials, such as, byexample, acetyl homopolymer, but could also be made of a variety ofother materials, including one or more metals, or a combination of metaland polymer or plastic. In selecting the material(s) used, theradiopacity of the clip can be “tuned” to a desirable level, or can betuned to be radiopaque.

The various embodiments of surgical clips of the present invention arean improvement over the known polymeric surgical ligation clips, as wellas standard metal clips. Among the resulting advantages of the surgicalclip of the invention as disclosed herein are: the ability to deliver alarger clip through a smaller endoscopic instrument; the ability toplace a clip on a vessel just like a prior art malleable and deformablemetal clip, with no need for added dissection or cleaning around thevessel, but with greater retention force than metal clips, which resultsin a reduced risk of clips slipping off the vessels. The greater cliplocking stability and clip retention force is accomplished by thelocking feature applying an active biasing or clamping force asdiscussed above, versus the passive clamping action created by plasticdeformation of malleable metal clips. A brief discussion with referenceto the FIGS. will now be discussed with a more detailed discussionreferencing the FIGS. and referencing reference characters will follow.

The distal portion of the applier would be attached to a proximal handlewith components that achieve the proper sequence to successfully apply aligation clip.

One particular embodiment, of the distal portion of the invention,consists of nine parts which make up the distal end, or shaft of theapplier, parts are shown and labeled in FIG. 20. There are two identicalwedges used, shown in FIG. 21, one catch, shown in FIG. 22, one punch,shown in FIG. 23, one clip indicator, shown in FIG. 24, one inner tube,shown in FIG. 25, two jaws, shown in FIG. 28 and one outer tube, shownin FIG. 29. Each of these parts are put together to form the appliershaft. FIG. 30 shows the distal end of the shaft assembly and FIG. 31shows the proximal end of the shaft assembly. There is a varied lengthbetween the distal and proximal portions of the shaft which is afunction of standard endoscopic instrumentation suitable for use inlaparoscopic surgery applications.

The manual applier has a clip loaded into the applier before it canapply a clip. The clips may be loaded into the applier with, but are notlimited to, the use of a clip cartridge where clips are presented to theapplier in a particular orientation. A version of a clip cartridge, forillustration purposes only, is shown in FIG. 32-36.

FIG. 37 shows the distal end of the applier on approach to the cartridgeand FIG. 38 shows the distal end of the shaft in the clip load position.Following images will exclude the Clip cartridge so that the specificactuation of the individual parts can be seen.

FIG. 39 shows the applier in a free state which is the same state theapplier will be in on approach to the clip cartridge. Note the locationof the parts in the assembly as this will be used as a referencelocation of the parts during actuation of the applier (images not toscale).

The outer tube remains stationary and is the base for the shaftcomponents. On the distal end of the outer tube there are spring fingersthat force the wedges together as they move within the assembly. The endof the outer tube has two tabs with holes that the jaws mount into.

The inner tube is inserted into the outer tube and controls theactuation of the jaws, which are assembled to the distal end of theouter tube in the tabs on the end; see FIG. 29 for tab location. Thejaws use the hole in the tab of the outer tube as a bearing surface inwhich they rotate. As the inner tube is slid toward the proximal end ofthe shaft the jaws are cammed open and when the inner tube is sliddistally the jaws are cammed closed, see FIGS. 26 & 27. The actuation ofthe inner tube and jaws are independent of all other parts in theapplier shaft. This allows the jaws to be used in grasping anddissecting with or without a clip in the load position. During theloading of the clip the jaws are fully open.

The clip is loaded into the distal end of the applier shaft by pressingthe clip bosses into the clip catch. The catch is inserted into theouter and inner tubes. There are two sets of legs cut into the distalend of the catch, see FIG. 22. The legs on each side of the catch spreadapart when the clip bosses are pressed into them. Once the clip bossesreach the circular cutout, on the distal end of the catch, the legsspring back together and capture the clip bosses. The catch also hastabs that orient the wedges.

During loading the clip is forced open by the fingers on the distal endsof the wedges, see FIG. 21. The wedges are inserted into the catch andorientated by the tabs on the catch to capture the upper and lowerhalves of the clip. The distal ends of the wedges are forced together bythe spring fingers on the outer tube; this is where the force to openthe clip comes from. The wedges capture and orient the punch, which inturn biases the wedges into the tabs of the catch, see FIG. 56.

FIG. 57 and FIG. 59 show different views of a loaded clip in the applierwith the jaws open. On the side of the outer tube there may be a viewport cut into the shaft to allow a visual of a loaded clip. This wouldallow the presence of a clip to be confirmed through the use of a cameraduring a laparoscopic surgery without having to remove the applier toconfirm. The view port is located to view the boss of a clip from eitherside of the applier and is position so the boss can only be viewed inthe loaded position, see FIG. 60.

As the clip is loaded it presses against the clip indicator which ismounted inside the punch, see FIG. 41. The clip indicator is springloaded so that the distal end is always biased toward the distal end ofthe applier until it is pushed against by the clip. When the clip isloaded a flag on the proximal end of the clip indicator signals theoperator visually that the clip is present.

At this point the clip is loaded and the jaws can move freely withoutdisturbing the clip, see FIG. 41 and FIG. 42. The jaws are then used tograb the vessel intended to be ligated. The jaws flatten out and holdthe vessel so that the loaded clip can be advanced over the vessel,closed, and locked. The compression of the vessel allows for a thinnercross-section for the clip to advance over and holds the vessel in placewhile the clip is being closed to ensure that the clip is fully seatedon the vessel before it is locked. The jaws have half circle cutouts toallow fluid to flow out of the vessel when the clip is closed. Thiskeeps the vessel from forming a “bubble” in the jaw cavity.

Once the jaws are closed on the vessel the clip is advanced into thejaws from the load location. The catch, wedges, and punch move towardthe distal end of the shaft in unison, see FIG. 43. The legs of the clipare stopped by the inner end surface of the jaws. The catch then remainsstationary as the wedges advance over the clip legs forcing the clip toclose. At the same time the wedges are advancing the punch is advancingup to the buttress of the clip, see FIG. 47. Once the wedges haveadvance to their furthest point toward the distal end of the jaws thepunch continues forward forcing the locking mechanism on the clip torotate into the clip's locked position, see FIG. 48-50.

Once the clip is locked the wedges and catch begin to retract toward theproximal end of the applier shaft, see FIG. 51. Once they are fullyretracted, see FIG. 52, the punch begins to retract toward the proximalend of the applier shaft, see FIG. 53. At this point the jaws can beopened and the clip is now free from the applier, see FIG. 54. At thesame time the punch is quickly returned to its start position. The punchmay be, but is not limited to being, spring loaded for the quick return.At this point, the punch is fully retracted and all parts are returnedto their start positions, see FIG. 55.

In a second embodiment of the invention the wedges and catches areseparate pieces attached to a catch tube, see FIGS. 60-63, and have thesame forward actuation sequence as the first embodiment to lock the clipbut does not require a dwell on the punch when the punch returns to thestart position. In this embodiment the wedge and catch assembly stopjust short of the clip stopping on the inner end surface of the jaws.The punch is then pushed forward to engage with the locking feature ofthe clip. The clip is first pushed out of the catch and wedges until thelegs of the clip stop on the inner end surface of the jaws. The punchcontinues forward forcing the locking mechanism on the clip to rotateinto the clip's locked position. During the rotation of the lockingmechanism of the clip the legs are clamped together with the lockingmechanism instead of the wedges as previously described. This embodimentalso has internal leaf springs attached to the inner tube that bias theends of the wedges together to open the clip during advance.

The proximal end of the applier, or applier handle, is made up of manyparts that provide a user interface portion of the applier. Each of thedistal end actuations are accomplished through the use of the proximalhandle.

The handle has a two piece outer shell which stages the internalactuating components and provides a bearing surface for a multi stagetransmission to allow 360° continuous rotation of the distal end. Thereis a two piece rotation knob clamped onto the distal portion of themulti stage transmission which is shaped to facilitate the 360°continuous rotation of the distal end.

In one embodiment of the handle there are two triggers, both triggersrotate around the same centroid, see FIGS. 65-67. The lower triggeractuates the jaws and the upper trigger actuates the clip deliverysequence. The lower trigger is attached to the multistage transmissionthrough two mirrored linkages which have features that allow the triggerto lock down when the jaws are closed. This feature is an over centercam. The linkages also have an inner profile which allows them to drivethe section of the multistage transmission that actuates the jaws whileallowing the 360° continuous rotation. The return stroke of the lowertrigger is accomplished through a return spring attached to a cable thatwraps around the front of the trigger and based on a pin at the proximalside of the handle. There is a interlock on the upper trigger that locksthe upper trigger until the lower trigger is pulled and locked down toensure a clip is not prematurely delivered. The upper trigger isattached to the multistage transmission through a linkage which has andinner profile that drives the section of the multistage transmissionthat actuates the clip delivery mechanisms and also allows the 360°continuous rotation. The return stoke of the upper trigger isaccomplished through a return spring attached to the back side of thetrigger and based on a pin at the proximal side of the handle. For boththe actuation and return strokes there is a one way pawl that limits thedirection of the upper trigger until a full stroke is completed, seeFIGS. 65-68 for trigger and actuating components.

In a second embodiment of the handle, the trigger functions are reversedso that the upper trigger actuates the jaws and the lower triggeractuates the clip delivery mechanisms.

The distal portion of the applier is connected to the handle through themulti stage transmission, see FIGS. 65-68. One embodiment of thetransmission is made up of a two piece outer shell which acts as thebearing to allow the rotation of the distal end. Internal to the shellare features that guide the internal components during the actuationsequences of the applier. There are two jaw links that connect to theinner tube of the distal end and provide the grove for the innerfeatures of the lower trigger linkages. The jaw links snap together andride on the internal surface of the transmission shell. The area betweenthe jaw links is open to allow for additional transmission parts. Thereare two center spindles that snap together and attach to the wedges, theinterior surface of the center spindles provide a guide for the springloaded punch and the outer surfaces provide a guide for the catch pusherlatch and the punch interlock. The catch pusher latch and the punchinterlock move over the center spindles and are guided in slots on theouter shell of the transmission. Small pins move in and out of groves inthe two pieces and the outer shell to achieve the appropriate timing forthe clip delivery mechanisms in the shaft, see FIGS. 69-76 for thetransmission assembly and FIGS. 77-86 for actuation sequence.

In a second embodiment of the transmission there is no punch latchinterlock or return spring on the punch. The reduced movement of thewedges does not require a two stage pull back of the punch after theclip is locked. There is no requirement for the punch to dwell until therest is pulled back because the clip is pushed out of the catch andwedges and released from the applier when the jaws are opened, see FIGS.87-88 for a view of the second embodiment of the transmission and FIGS.89-92 for the actuation sequence. A more detailed description of theapparatus shown in FIGS. 16-97 will follow with reference to referencecharacters and FIGS.

FIG. 16 is a side view of an applier 1000 in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. The applier 1000 has a clam shell housing1020, a handle 1040, a jaw trigger 1060, and a ligate trigger 1080. Ajaw trigger 1060 and ligate trigger 1080 are actuated by pulling thetriggers 1060 and 1080 toward the handle 1040. Applier 1000 alsoincludes a shaft 1120 which carries the jaws 1140 on the distal end1160, which is opposite from the proximal end 1180.

FIG. 17 is a partial isometric view of the applier 1000 clamped onto ablood vessel 1580 or other tissue 1580. The jaws 1140 have clamped ontoand deformed the vessel 1580. The portion of the shaft 1120 is alsoshown carrying the top jaw 1600 and the lower jaw 1620 which togethercomprise the jaws 1140.

FIG. 18 is an isometric view of a clip 100 clamped onto a blood vessel1580 or tissue 1580. The clip 100 is in a clamping position and isattached to the vessel/tissue 1580. The top leg or first leg 101 isshown above the second or bottom leg 102.

FIG. 19 is a side view of a clip 100 clamped onto a vessel 1580 ortissue 1580. The clamp 100 includes a top first leg 101 above the bottomor second leg 102. The locked locks the first leg 101 and the second 102is accomplished by locking the buttress body 150. The buttress body 150has moved to a position where the first rounded surface 148 is fit intoa first recess groove 158. Further, the protruding surface 156 is fitwithin the second recessed groove 146. The first living hinge 1400 isdeformed to allow a first rounded surface 148 and second protrudingsurface 156 to fit into the first recess groove 158 and second recessgroove 146 respectively. The second living hinge 162 is deflected topermit the detent 157 to fit within the notch 147 as shown in a lockingmanner, thereby keeping the first leg 101 clamped and nearly in contactwith the second leg 102.

FIG. 20 is a side view of several of the parts used in the clamp applier1000. These parts are for the most part only partially shown and shownin a disassembled state. A top jaw 1600 and the bottom jaw 1620 areshown. The outer tube 1640 and the inner tube 1660 are also shown. Thewedges 1680 including the top the wedge 1760 and bottom wedge 1780 arealso shown. The catch 1700 is shown as well as the punch 1720. At thebottom of FIG. 20, the clip indicator 1740 is shown.

FIG. 21 is a partial isometric view of the wedges 1680, specifically thetop wedge 1760. In many embodiments in accordance with the invention,the top wedge 1760 is a mirror image of the bottom wedge 1780 and thatthe bottom wedge 1780 may be similar to the top wedge 1760 only placedin an in inverted position as shown in FIG. 20. Turning to FIG. 21, thetop wedge 1760 includes a thicker portion 1820, thicker portion 1820 mayinclude a slanted surface 1840 which provides a transition between athicker portion 1820 and the standard portion of the top wedge 1760. Insome embodiments of the invention and as shown FIG. 21 the wedges 1680may have a U-shaped cross-section resulting in a channel 1850. At theproximal end 1880 of the wedge 1760 a bracket 1860 may be attached. Thepurpose of the bracket 1860 will be discussed in more detail laterbelow.

FIG. 22 is a partial isometric view of catch 1700 in accordance withsome embodiments of the invention. The catch 1700 may include a shaftportion 1900. At the distal end 1920 of the catch 1700 there may beforked ends 1960 of the catch 1700. The fork end 1960 may include a slot2020. The slot 2020 may start with a rounded cut out portion 2000 andterminate with a second cut out portion 2040. The forked work end 1960may start with slanted surfaces 1980, but the proximal end 1940 of thecatch 1700 there may be an attached bracket 1950 which will be shown inadditional figures and discussed in more detail later below. The catch1700 may also include guides 1970.

FIG. 23 is a partial isometric view of the punch 1720. The punch 1720may include projections 2060 which project up from the punch 1720 at thetop and bottom. As shown in FIG. 23, the punch 1720 may also have alongitudinal hole 2090 at the end as shown. The punch 1720 may alsoinclude a slot 2070 and a hole 2080 located at the opposite end of thepunch 1720 and the longitudinal hole 2090.

FIG. 24 is a partial isometric view of a clip indicator 1740. The clipindicator 1740 may include a rectangular portion 2100 and a distalcylindrical portion 2140 and a proximal cylindrical portion 2120 locatedon the opposite side of the rectangular portion 2100.

FIG. 25 is a partial isometric view of an inner tube 1660 in accordancewith some of the embodiments of the invention. The inner tube 1660 mayinclude a viewing port or a pair of viewing ports 2180. The inner tube1660 at the front end as oriented in FIG. 25 may include a T-shapedstructure 2200 located on both the top and the bottom as oriented inFIG. 25 of the inner tube 1660 and U-shaped grooves 2220 on both theright and left side is oriented in FIG. 25 of the inner tube 1660. Theinner tube 1660 may also include a longitudinal running slit 2230. Onthe opposite end of the inner tube 1660 and the T-shape structures 2200may be a bracket 2160 located on the approximate end of the inner tubes1660. The bracket 2160 may be shown in later figures and discussed inadditional details later below.

FIG. 26 is a side view of the jaws 1140. Atop jaw 1600 is located abovethe bottom jaw 1620 as shown in FIG. 26. Both the top 1600 and bottom1620 jaws may include grooves 2240. The jaws 1140 may include T-shapestructure holes 2250 configured to accommodate and have T-shapedstructure 2200 as shown and described in FIG. 25, as shown also in FIG.26. FIG. 26 also shows the first portion of the inner tube 1660 in theU-shaped groves 2220 as described with respect to the inner tube 1660 inFIG. 25.

FIG. 27 is a partial close up view of a portion of FIG. 26. In FIG. 27,the top jaw 1600 is shown with the T-shape structure 2200 of the innertube 1660. The T-shape structure 2200 is shown in the T-shape structurehole 2250. The T-shape structure hole 2250 has a geometry that allowsthe jaws 1140 to open and close while the T-shape structure 2200 remainswithin the T-shape structure holes 2250. The top jaw 1600 also has acaming surface 2280 that cams against a caming surface 2260 of the innertubes 1660 as the jaws 1140 opens and closes. While only a partialclose-up view of the top jaw 1600 is shown, one of ordinary skill in theart will understand that the bottom jaw 1520 is similarly configured ina mirror type image fashion. The top jaw 1600 also engages a bottom jaw1620 at a push point 2300 when the jaws 1140 open and close.

FIGS. 28a, 28b and 28c are isometric top and bottom views of the top jaw1600. The top jaw 1600 includes the T-shape structure hole 2250, hingepin 2620 and hinge pin cap 2630 as shown in the various views. In someinstances, in the FIGS. the hinge pin cap 2630 has been removed toexpose the hinge pin 2620.

FIG. 29 is a partial isometric view of the outer tube 1640. The outertube 1640 may include a viewing port 2320, spring legs 2420 which insome embodiments bias the wedges 1680 to a radially inward position. Theouter tube 1640 may also include eye brackets 2340 having holes 2400.The eye brackets 2340 and holes 2400 may be used for attaching the jaws1140. Inner tube 1640 also includes a shaft portion 2360 and a rim 2380located at the end of the shaft 2360.

FIG. 30 is a partial isometric view of the applier 1000 in a partiallyassembled state. As shown in FIG. 30, an outer tube 1640 with the jaws1140 comprising of the top jaw 1600, the lower jaw 1620. The jaws 1140contain the clip 100. The catch 1700 is located behind the clip 100. Thepunch 1720 is shown along with the hole 2090 in the end of the punch1720. The distal cylindrical portion 2140 of the clip indicator 1740 isshown, located in the slot 2070.

FIG. 31 is a partial isometric view of the applier 1000 where some ofthe outer portions removed so the inner portions can be shown. Theapplier 1000 includes the outer tubes 1640, the wedges 1680 are showninside the outer tubes 1640. Within the wedges 1680, the punch 1720 isshown, the slot 2070 is shown with the rectangular portion 2100 fit intothe slot 2070 from the punch 1720. A spring 2440 is located forward ofthe rectangular portion 2100. A hole 2080 in the punch 1720 is shownwith a pin 2460 located in the hole 2080. The top wedge 1760 and bottomwedge 1780 are also shown along the brackets 1860 attached to the topwedge 1760 and bottom wedge 1780.

The manual applier 1000 attains the clip 100 from a cartridge 2480 asshown in FIG. 32. The clips 100 are removed from the cartridge ports2500 and the cartridge 2480 and placed into the applier 1000. Theloading process will be illustrated in FIGS. 33-38.

In FIG. 33 a cross-sectional view of the cartridge 2480 is shown. Thecartridge ports 2500 is shown having a clip 100 inside the cartridgeport 2500. A detent 2520 holds the cartridge 100 within the cartridgeport 2500.

FIG. 34 is a cross-sectional view of the cartridge 2480 showing thedetent 2520 securing the cartridge 100 within the cartridge port 2500.

FIG. 35 is an end view of the cartridge 2480.

FIG. 36 is a side view of the cartridge 2480 showing the cartridges 100located in the cartridge port 2500. Protrusions 2540 are also shown onthe cartridge 2480.

FIG. 37 is a partial cross-sectional view of cartridge 2480, showing theapplier 1000 approaching the cartridge 2480 in order to obtain clip 100from the cartridge 2480. The jaws 1140 of the applier 1000 are open andapproaches the cartridge port 2500 in order to obtain a cartridge 100.

FIG. 38 is a cross-sectional view of a cartridge 2480 where the applier1000 as entered the cartridge port 2500 in order to obtain a clip 100.The applier 1000 has moved into the cartridge port 2500. The jaws 1140have entered the jaw channels 2560 and the clip 100 is now inside theapplier 1000.

FIG. 39 is a partial cross-sectional view of the applier 1000 as itapproaches the clip cartridge 2480. The jaws 1140 are in an openposition. The inner tube 1660 has moved to a forward position causingjaws 1140 to open. The catch 1700 is in a position ready to receive theclip 100 (not shown in FIG. 39).

FIG. 40 is a partial cross-sectional view of the applier 1000 as itloads the clip 100. The cartridge has not been shown for clarity. Thejaws 1140 are in an open position. While the clip 100 is shown in aclosed position, in reality the standard position for some clip inaccordance with the invention and as should be shown in FIG. 40 is in aslightly open position, not fully opened and not fully closed. In otherembodiments of the invention, the clip 100 may be in other positions.

FIG. 41 is a partial cross-sectional view of the applier 1000 with aclip 100 lowered inside. The distal cylindrical portion 2140 of the clipindicator 1740 is in contact with the buttress body 150 of the clip 100.

FIG. 42 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the applier 1000,showing the clip inside the applier 1000 and the jaws 1140 closed.

FIG. 43 is a close up view of the jaws 1140 of the applier 1000, showingthat the jaws 1140 have closed over a vessel or tissue 1580. The clip100 is starting to advance into the jaws 1140.

FIG. 44 is a close up cross-sectional partial view of the applier 1000showing the jaws 1140 clamped or a vessel or tissue 1580. The clip 100has advanced into the jaws 1140 and the wedges 1760 and 1780 havestarted to move into the jaws 1140.

FIG. 45 is a partial cross-sectional view of the jaws 1140 of theapplier 1000 showing the clip 100 has advanced into jaws 1140. Thevessel or tissue 1580 is currently being clamped by the jaws 1140 butnot the clip 100. The upper leg 101 of the jaw 100 is contacting theinner slanted surface 2580 and the lower leg 102 is contacting the innerslanted surface 2600 of the jaws 1140. The wedges 1760 and 1780 continueto advance to close the clip 100, the thick portions 1820 have movedinto the jaws 1140 sufficient so that as the punch continues to urge onthe clip 100, the thick portions 1820 will not be in the way of the legs101 and 102 of the clip 100 from shutting.

FIG. 46 is a partial cut away of the applier 1000 and the jaws 1140,where the leg 101, the lower leg 102 have closed to clamp onto thevessel or tissue 1580.

As best shown in FIG. 47, the punch 1720 pushes the clip 100 forward andcontinues to push against the buttress body 150 to cause the clip 100 tolock in a clamping position. As shown in FIG. 47, the wedges 1760 and1780 have advanced far enough to not prevent the clip 100 from locking.

FIG. 48 illustrates punch 1720 continuing to move the buttress body 150toward a latching position on the clip 100.

FIG. 49 shows the punch 1720 continuing to move the buttress body 150 sothat the detent 157 moves towards the notch 147 and the clip.

FIG. 50 shows the punch 1720 moving the buttress body 150 sufficientlyforward such that the detent 157 is locked into the notch 147, therebylocking the clip 100 in a closed position.

FIG. 51 shows the wedges 1760 and 1780 retracting into the applier 1000leaving the clip 100 in place.

FIG. 52 shows the wedges 1760 and 1780 in a fully retracted positionwithin the applier 1000 and the clip 100 in place in the jaws 1140.

FIG. 53 shows the punch 1720 retreating away from the clip 100 into theapplier 1000.

FIG. 54 illustrates the jaws 1140 on the applier 1000 opening exposingthe clip 100. Removal of the applier 1000 to the right as shown in FIG.54 will leave the clip 100 in place and it will be able to exit theapplier 1000.

FIG. 55 shows the jaws 1140 in an open position, the punch 1720 is fullyretreated into the applier 1000.

FIG. 56 is a front view of the applier 1000 showing various portions ofthe applier 1000, for example the outer tube 1640 is shown. The catch1700 is also shown as well as the spring legs 2420 of the outer tube1640. The punch 1720 can also be seen. Projections 2060 are shown to beriding in the wedges 1760 and 1780. The wedge guides 1970 can also beshown as part of the wedges 1680. Inner tube 1660 is also illustrated.

FIG. 57 is an end-view of the applier 1000, the jaws 1600 and 1620 areopen and the clip 100 is within the applier 1000. The top jaw 1600 andbottom jaw 1620 are in an open position. The outer tube 1640 is shown.The hinge pin 2620 of the jaws 1600 and 1620 are shown. The hinge pin2620 connects the upper jaw 1600 and the lower jaw 1620 to the eyebrackets 2340 on the outer tube 1640. The clip 100 as shown the upperleg 101 and the lower 102 in the spread part, open position.

FIG. 58 is an isometric view of the distal end 1160 of the applier 1000.The viewing port 2180 can be seen in the outer tube 1640. The viewingport 2180 allows the user to see if there is a clip 100 in the applier1000 or whether, as shown in FIG. 58, there is no clip in the applier1000. The punch 1720 can be seen along with the projections 2060 of thepunch 1720, the projections are riding in the wedge 1680. The slot 2020can be seen in the catch 1700.

FIG. 59 is similar to FIG. 58 with the exception that a clip 100 isshown within the applier 1000. The distal end 1180 of the applier 1000is shown. The first leg 101 and the second leg 102 of the clip 100 inthe open position. The jaws 1140 of the applier 1000 are also shown inthe open position.

FIG. 60 is a side-view of a portion of the applier 1000. The viewingport 2180 in the outer housing 1640 allows a user to see that a clip 100is loaded into the applier 1000. The eye brackets 2340 of the outer tube1640 are also seen, the jaws 1140 are in the open position.

FIG. 61 illustrates another embodiment of the applier 1000 where thewedges 1760 and 1780 and catch 1700 are visible in a cutaway. As shownin FIG. 61 applier 1000 has an outer tube 1640. The top wedge 1760 andbottom wedge 1780 are both located in the applier 1000. Spring legs 2420are located on the outer tube 1640 and configured compress wedges 1760and 1780 as the wedges 1760 and 1780 pass by. The spring legs 2420 pushthe wedges 1760 and 1780 inward towards each other. Catch 1700 is alsoshown. The thicker portion 1820 of the wedges 1760 and 1780 are alsoshown. The thicker portions 1820 will actuate part of the clip 100 (asshown in FIG. 61) as the wedges pass by the spring legs 2420. The punch1720 can be seen as well as the catch 1700. A spring loaded tab 2640connects the catch 1700 to the outer tube 1640.

FIG. 62 illustrates another view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 61 ofthe applier 1000. In this embodiment there is a catch wedge combination2700. The catch 1700 is connected to the wedges 1680. The forked end1960 of the catch 1700 can be shown as well as the slot 2020. The springloaded button or tab 2640 is shown or tabbed and shown connecting thecatch wedge combination 1700 to the outer tube 1640.

In FIG. 63 the outer tube 1640 has been removed to better show the catchwedge combination 2700. The upper wedge 1760 and lower wedge 1780 areshown and they are integrated with the catch 1700. The spring loaded tab2640 is shown as well as the flex spring 2680 which connects the springloaded tab 2640 to the catch wedge combination 2700.

FIG. 64 is a side-view illustrating a proximal end 1180 of a portion ofthe applier 1000. The applier 1000 includes a housing 1020 which in someembodiments may be a clam shell type housing. A handle 1040 is alsoincluded along with a jaw actuating trigger 1060 and a ligate trigger1080. A transmission housing 1100, houses a transmission to be discussedlater and provides a transition between the housing 1020 and the shaft1120.

FIG. 65 illustrates a portion of the applier 1000 as shown in FIG. 64,however, part of the housing 1020 is removed in order to illustrateinterior components.

FIG. 66 is an exploded view of the interior components.

FIG. 67 is similar to FIG. 65 in that the housing 1020 has been removed.

FIG. 68 illustrates interior components where the housing 1020 isremoved.

The following description will apply to FIGS. 65-68, however, not all ofthe reference numerals may be called out in all the figures nor willthey be necessary be all visible in FIGS. 65-68. Both the jaw triggers1060 and the ligate trigger 1080 pivot about the trigger pivot shaft2940. The user may pull either ligate trigger 1080 or the jaw trigger1160 toward the handle 1040. Both of these triggers are spring loaded.There is a ligate lever spring 2760 and a grasper lever spring 2770which bias the triggers 1080 and 1060 to an outward position. However,the triggers do not always remain in an outward position, even when auser has let go of the triggers 1080 and 1060 due to the ratchet plates2800. The ratchet plates 2800 are similar but have slightly differentratcheting systems that will be described herein. Ratchet plates 2800contain ratchet teeth 2860. The ratchet plates 2800 are connected to aspring bias first pawl 2880 and second pawl 2890. The first pawl 2880and the second pawl 2890 are connected by a pawl pivot pin 2900. Thefirst and second pawls 2880 and 2890 are spring loaded by a pawl spring2910 which urges against a pawl spring anchor 2930 which is attached tothe back of the housing 2720. The first pawl 2880 engages the ratchetteeth 2860 until a pawl lift projection 2920 lifts either the first pawl2880 or the second pawl 2890. When the first pawl was disengaged by thepawl lift projection 2920 then the second pawl 2890 is engaged with theratchet teeth 2860. If it is the second pawl 2890 that is disengagedwith the ratchet teeth 2860 by the pawl lift projection 2920, than thefirst pawl 2880 becomes engaged with the ratchet teeth 2860. In thismanner, the first pawl 2880 prevents undesired trigger movement in onedirection and the second pawl 2890 prevents undesired trigger movementin the second direction.

Ratchet plates 2800 are connected to the ligate lever pivot shaft 2980via pivot pins 2820. The pivot pins 2820 have locking clamps 2840 toprevent the pivot pins 2820 from disengaging or coming off the ratchetplates 2800. Though ligate lever pivot shaft 2980 includes a ligatelever slot 3140 and allows the pivot pins 2820 to slide through ligatelever slot 3140, the dimensions of the ligate lever slot 3140 may beselected to achieve desired inputs into the transmission which will bedescribed in further detail below. The ligate trigger 2800 also has atrigger interlock projection 3120 just configured to interacting lockwith the trigger lock 3080. The trigger lock 3080 is biased by a spring2780 to a forward position. The trigger lock 3080 includes a triggerinterlock hook 3100 which interacts with the trigger interlockprojection 3100 to lock the ligate trigger 1080 with a ligate trigger1080 is at a specific position. The specific dimensions of the ligatetrigger interlock projection 3120 and the trigger interlock may beselected in order to provide a desired input into transmission 3180 oneof ordinary skill in the art. A jaw trigger 1060 is connected to agrasper lever 3000. The grasper lever 3000 includes a grasper leverpivot shaft 3020 and a curve slot 3040. A curved slot pin 3060 maytravel through the curved slot 3040 and is acted upon by springextension 3160 which is controlled by the grasper lever spring 2770.Actuation of the jaw trigger 1060 will cause the grasper lever 3000 andthe grasper lever pivot shaft 3020 to act upon the transmission 3180 toprovide input to the transmission 3180 which will be discussed furtherdetail below.

In some the components described and as shown in FIGS. 65-68 aredesigned to provide inputs into the transmission 3180. Variousconnecting mechanisms may be used to connect various inputs such as theligate trigger 1080 and the jaw trigger 1060 provide inputs to atransmission 3180 to actuate the applier 1000 in a manner desired by auser. The ligate lever spring 2760 and grasper lever spring 2770 may beanchored to the housing by the spring anchors 2740. The size anddimension of the curve slot 3040 can be selected by one of ordinaryskill in the art in order to provide the desired input into thetransmission 3180 at a desired trigger 1060 position.

As shown specifically in FIG. 68, a grasper lever pivot shaft 3020engages the jaw actuator link 3200 of the transmission 3180. The centeractuator link 3220 engages the ligate lever 2960 via the pivot pins2820. In some embodiments of the invention, the pawls 2880 and 2890 andthe ratchet teeth 2860 along with the pawl lift projection 2920 areconfigured so that once the ligate trigger 1080 starts to move in adirection, it cannot reverse course until it is completed movement inthat direction and, at that point, it may reverse course. In otherwords, once the user starts to pull that trigger 1060, 1080, the trigger1060, 1080 may not move forward until the trigger 1060, 1080 has firstbecome all the way back. Once the trigger 1060, 1080 has come all theway back, then it may move forward, but once a trigger 1060, 1080 startsa forward position it cannot move back until it first moves all the wayforward.

FIG. 69 is an exploded view of the transmission 3180 according to anembodiment of the invention. The transmission 3180 includes an outerclam shell housing 3240 and 3260. The Leur port 3320 connects to a hole3340 in the clam shell housing 3240. The Leur port 3320 is used toconnect the transmission 3180 to a cleaning fluid for flushing andcleaning not only the transmission 3180 but the entire applier 1000between uses. Cleaning of surgical tools as well known in the art andwill not be described further here. Inside the outer clam shells 3240and 3260 are jaw actuator links 3280 and 3300, they are also in a clamshell configuration. The jaw actuator links 3300 and 3280 includeattaching structure 3360 at the front for attaching to variouscomponents which will be described later. The jaw actuator links 3300and 3280 also define a jaw actuator input 3200. The jaw actuator input3200 defines an engaging groove 3380 which allows the jaw actuator input3200 to attach to pin 3020 as shown in FIG. 68. In the jaw actuatinglinks 3280 and 3300, between the jaw actuator links 3280 and 3300 andthe catch pusher latches 3400 and 3420 are connecting pins 3460.Connecting pins 3460 reside in slots 3440 in the catch pusher latches3400 and 3420. The catch pusher latches 3400 and 3420 also includeattaching structure 3430 for attaching components which will bedescribed later below. The catch pusher latches 3400 and 3420 containthe center spindle 3600. The center spindle 3600 is attached to thecenter actuator link 3220. Center actuator link 3220 is connected topivot pins 2820 (shown in FIG. 66) which allows the center actuator link3220 to be actuated by a user. The center spindle 3600 also houses andis attached to punch return spring 3580. A punch latch interlock 3480attaches to the center spindle 3600 and provides slots 3520 for pins3500 to reside. The punch latch interlock 3480 also defines a pin slot3540 for pin 2460. The purpose for these pins and slots will bedescribed in more detail later blow.

FIG. 70 is a perspective view of transmission 3180. The outer clam shellhousing 3240 and 3260 are shown as well as the Leur port 3320. The jawactuator input 3200, the center spindle 3600 and the center actuatorlink 3220 are also shown.

In FIG. 71 the outer clam shell housing 3240 and 3260 have been removedin order to better show the interior components. The jaw actuator links3280 and 3300 are shown as well as the catch punch latches 3420, the pingrooves 3520 and punch latch interlock pins 3500 are set therein. Theslot 3440 is also shown with the connecting pin 3460 shown therein. Thejaw actuator link 3200, the center spindle 3600 and the center actuatorlink 3220 are also shown.

In FIG. 72, the jaw actuator link is removed to better show variousaspects of the transmission 3180. Other features are also shown inshowing connections to the transmission. For example, the outer tubes1640 is shown with the rim 2380. The brackets 2160 on the proximate endof the inner tube 1660 are also shown as well as the catch 1700connected to the transmission 3180. The catch puncher latches 3400 and3420 are also shown as well as the center actuator link 3220.

In FIG. 73, the catch pusher latches are removed. The outer tube 1640 isshown as well as the inner tube 1660 and the attaching brackets 2160 areattached to the inner tube 1660. The catch 1700 is shown having itsattaching brackets 1950 also shown. The punch latch interlock 3480 isshown as well as the punch latch interlock pins 3500. The pin slot 3540and the connecting pin 3460 residing in the pin slot 3540. The punchlatch interlock 3480 is attached to and carried on the center spindle3600.

In FIG. 74, the punch latch interlock and pins are removed thus showingthe center spindle 3600, the pin 2460 residing in a pin slot 3540. Thewedges 1680 can also be seen in part.

In FIG. 75, the center spindle 3600 has been removed. The top 1760 andbottom 1780 wedges are shown and the punch 1720 is shown in between thetop 1760 and bottom wedge 1780. The hole 2080 in the punch 1720 is thesame hole 2080 in which the pin 2460 shown in FIG. 74 resides. The punchreturn spring 3580 is also shown urging against the punch 1720 and fitbetween the wedges 1760 and 1780. Connecting brackets 1860 on the wedges1760 and 1780 are also shown. Connecting brackets 1860 connect thewedges 1760 and 1780 to the center spindle 3600 found in FIG. 74.

FIG. 76 is similar to FIG. 75 but it shows the punch return spring 3580removed. The outer tube 1640 is shown along with the rim 2380. The innertube 1660 is shown with the brackets 2160 on the approximate end of theinner tube 1660. The catch 1700 is shown along with the attachingbracket 1950. The punch 1720 is also shown riding along in between thetop wedge 1760 and bottom wedge 1780. The hole 2080 and the punch 1720is also shown. The connecting bracket 1860 on the wedges 1760 and 1780are also shown. The transmission is, for the most part, absent from thedrawing shown in FIG. 76, but rather the only components left are thosethe transmission connects to and provides movement to.

FIG. 77 is a cross-sectional view of the transmission 3180 and variouselements that the transmission connects to. In FIG. 77, the outer clamshell housing 3240 and 3260 are shown as well as the jaw actuator linkclam shell 3380 and the jaw actuator input 3200. The jaw actuator linkor input 3200 is not contacting the outer clam shell housing 3240 and3260. The actuator link or input 3380 is in a position to allow the jaws(not shown in FIG. 77) being open in order to load a clip 100 (notshown) into the applier 1000.

FIG. 78 is a cross-sectional view of the transmission 3180 where thejaws 1140 (not shown in FIG. 77) are closed. The jaw actuator link orinput 3200 has moved forward and is contacting the outer clam shellhousing 3240 and 3260. Note that the center actuator link 3220 riding onthe center spindle 3600 is about the same distance from the jaw link orinput 3380 as shown in FIG. 77. Thus the center actuator link 3220 movedforward about the same distance as the jaw actuator link or input 3380when it moved up against the outer clam shell housing 3240 and 3260.

FIG. 79 is a cross-sectional view of a transmission 3180 where thecenter spindle 3600 has advanced. The jaw actuator link or input 3200 isstill pressed against the outer clams shell housing 3240 and 3260. Theconnecting pin 3460 resides within the pocket 3680 in the outer shell3240 and 3260. Further, punch latch interlock pins 3500 have camsurfaces 3700 and will urge against the fingers 3720 on the outer shell3240 and 3260. As the center spindle 3600 advances, the catch pusherlatch 3420 and the punch latch interlock 3480 move forward. Tensionbegins to build in the punch return spring 3580. The pins 3460 and 3500are pins that act as connection points to allow everything to advancetogether and thus the clip 100 (not shown in FIG. 79) is advanced.

Turning now to FIG. 80 the transmission 3180 is shown where the clip 100(not shown in FIG. 80) is closed. The center spindle 3600 continues toadvance by actuation of the center, actuator link 3220. The catch pusherlatch 3420 disengages as the pins 3460 come out of the pocket 3780 ofthe outer shell 3240 and 3260. Thus, the catch pusher latch 3420 stops.The punch latch interlock 3480 moves forward and the cam surface 3700causes the FIG. 3720 of the outer shell 3240 and 3260 to move aside andallow a punch latch interlock 3480 to move forward. While the fingers3720 in the outer shell 3240 and 3260 are not shown in a more spreadapart position in FIG. 80, they should be as they have moved regularlyoutward slightly by way of the caming surface 3700 acting upon thefingers 3720.

FIG. 81 illustrates a position of the transmission 3180 where the clip100 (not shown) is latched. The center spindle 3600 is fully advanced bymeans of the center actuator link 3220 being pressed forward into thetransmission 3180. The punch latch interlock 3480 moves forward and thepunch latch interlock pins 3500 moves forward and drop into pockets 3740behind the outer shell fingers 3720.

FIG. 82 illustrates the transmission 3180 when the wedges 1680 return.The center spindle 3600 moves outward by the input placed on the centerlink 3220. The jaw actuator link or input 3200 remains in a position butup against the outer clam shell housing 3240 and 3260. The punch latchinterlock 3480 stays in position. The catch pusher latch 3420 began toreturn allowing the connecting pins 3460 to return to the pin connectinggroove 3780.

FIG. 83 illustrates the transmission 3180. The center spindle 3600continues to return via an input on the center actuator link 3220. A jawactuator or link 3200 is still butted against the outer clam shellhousing 3240 and 3260. The punch latch interlock 3480 continues to pullback and the catch pusher latch 3420 continues to return. The punchlatch interlock pins 3500 cause the fingers 3720 on the outer shell 3240and 3260 to spread apart. The connecting pins 3460 are no longer in thepocket 3680 of the outer shell 3240 or 3260.

FIG. 84 shows the position of the transmission 3180 where the punch 1720is unlatched. The center spindle 3600 continues to return to an extendedposition. The punch latch interlock 3480 continues to pull back. Thecatch pusher latch 3400 continues to return. The pins 3500 force thefingers 3720 apart.

FIG. 85 illustrates a transmission 3180 in a position to free the clip100 (not shown). The center spindle 3600 reaches a fully extended endposition by input placed on the center spindle 3220. A punch latchinterlock 3480 continues to pull back. The catch pusher latch 3400reaches an end position. The punch latch interlock pins 3500 are passedthe fingers 3720 and the outer shell 3240 and 3260 and the punch latchinterlock 3480 is therefore free to return.

FIG. 86 illustrates the transmission 3180 in a position for the punchreturn spring 3580 to be relieved. A center spindle 3600 is at the endposition. The punch latch interlock 3480 pulls back to an end positionunder force from the extension spring of punch return spring 3580.

FIG. 87 illustrates a second embodiment of the transmission 3180 whereinthe second embodiment there is no punch latch interlock. As shown inFIG. 87, part of the clam shell housing 3260 is removed to exposeinterior elements. The outer clam shell housing 3240 is shown along withvarious elements such as but not limited to a jaw actuator input link3200, the center spindle 3600 and the center actuator link 3220.

FIG. 88 is an exploded view of a transmission 3180 in accordance withina second embodiment. FIG. 88 shows outer clam shell housing 3260 and3240. The outer clam shell housing 3240 has a hole 3340 for connectingto a Leur port 3320 which is used to connect a cleaning device withcleaning solution to clean a transmission and a 3180 and the rest of thetool. Cleaning of surgical tools will not be discussed in detail here.

Inside the outer clam shell housing 3260 and 3240 are jaw actuator links3280 and 3300. The jaw actuator links 3280 and 3300 include attachingstructure 3360 at one end and jaw actuator input link 3200 at anotherend. The jaw actuator input or link 3200 includes an engaging groove3380. Between the jaw actuator links 3280 and 3300 resides a connectingpin 3460 for connecting the jaw actuator links 3280 and 3300 with catchpuncher latches 3400 and 3420. The catch puncher latches 3400 and 3420include attaching structure 3430 at one end. The catch puncher latches3400 and 3420 also include slots 3440 for the pin 3460. The catchpuncher latches 3420 and 3400 house the center spindles 3640 and 3660.The center spindles 3640 and 3660 may be in a clam shell configurationas shown and may entrap a pin 3460.

FIG. 89 is a side cross-sectional view of the transmission 3180according to the second embodiment. The jaw actuator link or input 3200is shown spaced away from the outer clam shell 3240. The center spindleclam shell 3640 and 3660 as shown as well as the center actuator link3220. The jaws 1140 are open when the transmission 3180 is in theposition as shown in FIG. 89. The clip 100 (not shown) may be loadedwhen the jaws 1140 are open in the transmission 3180 is in the positionshown in FIG. 89.

FIG. 90 shows a transmission 3180 in an position where the jaws 1140 areclosed and the clip 100 may be loaded inside the jaws 1140. The jawactuator link 3200 is pressed against the clam shell housing 3240 and3260. The center spindle clam shell 3640 and 3660 are shown and carrythe center actuator link 3220. Center actuator link 3220 and the jawactuator link or input 3200 are located about the same distance fromeach other in FIG. 90 as they are shown in FIG. 89.

FIG. 91 shows a side view of the transmission 3180 where the clip 100advances into the jaws 1140. The wedges 1680 and catch 1700 (not shownin FIG. 91) can move together. The center spindle 3640 and 3660 began toadvance by an input placed on the center actuator link 3220. The jawactuator link or input 3200 remains in position. Connecting pins 3460are in the pocket 3680 in the outer shell 3240 and 3260. The locking pingrooves 3760 moved away from the connecting pin 3460. The punch 1720 andcatch puncher latch 3420 and 3400 work together.

FIG. 92 is a side sectional view of transmission 3180 and the clip 100(not shown) is closed or latched. The center spindle 3640 and 3660continues to advance. Connecting pins 3460 are located in the pockets3680 in the outer shell 3240 and 3260. The catch puncher latch 3400stops. The punch 1720 continues forward with the center spindle 3640 and3660 until the clip 100 (not shown) is latched, everything returns inreverse order after latching.

FIG. 93 is a side view with part of the housing removed of the applier1000. The jaws 1140 are shown on the shaft 1120. The shaft 1120 extendsfrom the transmission housing 1100. Part of the housing 1020 is open toshow interior elements. The ligate trigger 1080 is shown as well as thejaw trigger 1060. The applier 1000 as shown in FIG. 93, shows theapplier 1000 ready to receive a clip 100 as shown.

FIG. 94 is a side view of an applier 1000 with part of the transmissionhousing 1100 and clam shell housing 1120 removed to show interiorelements. Applier 1000 is retrieving a clip 100 (not shown) from acartridge 2480 into the jaws 1140 of the applier 1000. The ligatetrigger 1080 is shown as well as the jaw trigger 1160. Position of thejaw trigger 1160 and the ligate trigger 1080 are shown when the applier1000 is in a cartridge loading position.

FIG. 95 is a side view of the applier 1000. The transmission housing1100 is cut away and the clam shell housing 1020 is cut away to showpositions of interior elements. Part of the jaws 1140 and the top partof the shaft 1120 are missing to better show interior elements. Thepositions of the ligate trigger 1080 and the jaw trigger 1060 are shownwhere the applier 1000 is ready to have the clip 100 to move forwardinto the jaws 1140.

FIG. 96 illustrates an applier 1000 where part of the transmissionhousing 1100, clam shell housing 1020, the shaft 1120 and the jaws 1140are missing. The ligate trigger 1080 and the jaw trigger 1060 are in aposition for allowing the clip 100 to move forward.

The applier 1000 shown in FIG. 97 shows an applier where the ligatetrigger 1080 and the jaw actuator 1060 are in a position where the clip100 (not shown) is to be latched. Transmission housing 1100 and the clamshell housing 1020 are shown intact.

In another embodiment, a different clip 12000 and adapter 12040 is used.This clip 12000 and adapter 12040 is shown and described in FIGS.98-122. FIG. 98 shows a side view of the clip 12000. The clip 12000includes an upper leg 12002 and a lower leg 12004. Both legs 12002 and12004 include teeth 12006 and grooves 12007. The upper leg 12002includes an upper front end and 12008 in the lower leg 12004 includes alower front and 12010. The upper front end 12008 includes an upperslanted edge 12012 and the lower front end 12010 includes a lowerslanted edge 12014. The upper leg 12002 and the lower leg 12004 pivotabout a hinge portion 12016 which is part of a body portion 12018.

The body portion 12018 includes a locking void 12020. The clip 12000 islocked by moving a buttress 12022 into the locking void 12020. Thebuttress 12022 includes a buttress void 12024. The body portion 12018includes locking wings 12026. The locking wings 12026 help retain thebuttress 12022 into the locking void 12020 when the clip 12000 is in alocking position. The buttress void 12024 includes locking interiorsurfaces 12030. The buttress 12022 includes locking exterior surfaces12032. When the buttress 12022 is in the buttress void 12024 the lockinginterior surfaces 12030 and the locking exterior surfaces 12032 will bein contact with each other.

The buttress 12022 is attached to the body portion 12018 the connectors12034. The connectors 12034 are resilient and will flex to permit themovement of the buttress 12022 with respect to the body portion 12018.The connectors 12034 are equipped with projections 12036. Theprojections 12036 are useful when the clips 12000 are arranged in anautomatic applier in a nose to tail fashion. In such an instance, theupper front end 12008 and lower front end 12010 of a clip 12000 behind afirst clip 12000 will engage the projections 12036 of the clip 12000 infront.

FIG. 99 illustrates a top view of the clip 12000. The upper leg 12002and the upper front end 12008 are visible. The connector 12034connecting the buttress 12022 and having the projection 12036 is alsoshown in FIG. 99.

FIG. 100 illustrates an isometric view of the clip 12000. The upper leg12002, the lower leg 12004, the grooves 12007, and teeth 12006 arevisible. The lower slanted edge 12014 can also be seen. The hingeportion 12016, the buttress void 12024, and the buttress 12022 are alsovisible in the isometric view shown in FIG. 100.

FIGS. 101 and 102 illustrate the clip 12000 clamping onto a vessel12038. The grooves and teeth are not shown and are removed for clarityin FIGS. 101 and 102. The vessel 12038 is clamped between the upper leg12002 and the lower leg 12004. The buttress 12022 has been moved intothe buttress avoid 12024 causing the locking interior surfaces 12030 anda locking exterior surfaces 12032 to be in contact with each other.Movement of the buttress 12022 into the buttress avoid 12024 has causedthe upper leg 12002 and the lower leg 12004 to be locked in a closedposition. It will be appreciated that closing of the clip 12000 willcause the hinge portion 12016 to rotate thereby enlarging the buttressavoid 12024 and allowing the buttress 12022 to be pushed or moved intothe buttress void 12024 thereby locking the clip 12000 in the closedposition. Once the clip 12000 is in the closed position the vessel 12028is clamped.

A manual applier 12040 may be used with the clip 12000 shown anddescribed in FIGS. 98 through 102. A partial isometric view of a manualapplier 12040 that may be used with the clip 12000 is shown in FIG. 103.The manual applier 12040 includes a pair of jaws 12042. The jaws 12042may include an upper jaw 12044 and a lower jaw 12046. The jaws 12042 maybe pivotally attached to a distal locking clevis tube 12048. The distallocking clevis tube 12048 may include a boss 12050 having a hole 12052.The distal locking clevis tube 12048 may also include a slot 12054through which part of the jaws 12042 extend. The jaws 12042 may attachedto the distal locking clevis tube 12048 via a pivot rivet 12056extending through the hole 12052 in the distal locking clevis tube 12048and the jaws 12042. Behind distal locking clevis tube 12048 is aproximal locking clevis tube 12058 and an actuation shaft 12108 (SeeFIG. 117).

FIG. 104 illustrates a shaft tube assembly 12060. The shaft tubeassembly 12060 includes a handle interface 12062 located at the proximalend 12064 of the shaft tube assembly 12060. The shaft tube assembly12060 also includes a distal end 12066. In some embodiments, the shafttube assembly 12060 fits over the actuation shaft 12108 (hidden in FIG.117) and part of the proximal locking clevis tube 12058. The shaft tubeassembly 12060 provides a housing for the actuation shaft 12108. Theshaft tube assembly 12060 is removed in the other figures to show theinternal comport parts of the manual applier 2040.

FIG. 105 is an isometric view of a handle assembly 12068. In someembodiments of the invention, the handle assembly to 12068 may bestandard off-the-shelf feature. For example, the handle 12068 sold asthe Hem-o-loc® handle identified as number 544965P may be used. Thehandle 12068 may include a pivoting lever 12070 attached to the handle12072. A rotator 12074 is configured to allow an operator to rotate therotator 12074 and thereby rotate also the shaft tube assembly 12060 (SeeFIG. 103) and jaws 12042 along with the components located at the distalend of the applier 12040. This rotation capability allows a user toorient the jaws 12042 to a desired angular rotation. The handle 12068also includes an actuation shaft interface 12076. It is the actuationshaft interface 12076 that communicates with the handle interface 12062on the shaft tube assembly 12060 to cause the rotation of the shaft tubeassembly 12060, its internal components, the jaws 12042, and othercomplements located at the distal end of the applier 12040 when therotator 12074 is rotated by a user. The lever 12070 is biased away fromthe handle 12072 by the leaf spring assembly 12078.

According to some embodiments, the applier 12040 is capable of applyingonly a single clip 12000 at a time. In order to load a clip 12000 intothe jaws 12042, a clip cartridge 12080 as shown in FIG. 106 may be used.The clip cartridge 12080 may include several clips 12000 located in clipretainers 12082 within the clip cartridge 12080. To obtain a clip 12000from the clip cartridge 12080, the jaws 12042 are placed over a clip12000 and then the jaws 12042 are removed from the clip cartridge 12080thereby causing the clip 12000 to be removed from the clip retainer12082 and stay in the jaws 12042.

FIGS. 107 through 114 illustrate single components of the manual applier12040. FIGS. 115 through 122 illustrate how these components areassembled together. Each will be discussed in turn. FIG. 107 illustratesan upper jaw 12044. In some embodiments, the upper jaw 12044 and thelower jaw 12046 are the same part just installed in oppositeorientations. The jaw 12044 includes a slot 12084. The jaw 12044 alsoincludes bosses 12086 which define holes 12088. The rear of the jaw12044 includes an actuation body 12090 which defines an actuation slot12092. It is by moving a part through the actuation slot 12092, whichwill be discussed in further detail below that the jaw 12044 will pivotabout a pivot rivet 12056 that extends through the holes 12088 in thebosses 12086.

FIG. 108 is an isometric view of the pivot rivet 12056 which, as shownin FIG. 103 extends through the hole 12052 in the boss 12050 of thedistal locking clevis tube 12048. The pivot rivet 12056 also extendsthrough the holes 12088 in the bosses 12086 in the jaw 12044 topivotally connect the jaw 12044 to the distal locking clevis tube 12048.The pivot rivet 12056 will attach both the upper jaw 12044 and the lowerjaw 12046 to the distal locking clevis tube 12048.

FIG. 109 is an isometric view of the distal locking clevis tube 12048.The distal locking clevis tube 12048 includes bosses 12050 definingholes 12052 a guiding slot 12096 and a narrow diameter portion 12094.The narrow diameter portion 12094 defines a hole 12095, or is anotherwords, is hollow.

FIG. 110 is an isometric view of the proximal locking clevis tube 12058.The proximal locking clevis tube 12058 includes a large diameter housing12098 which has slits 12100 the large diameter housing 12098 alsodefines a guiding slot 12102. The large diameter housing 12098 isdimensioned to fit over and ride on the narrow diameter portion 12094 ofthe distal locking clevis tube 12048 as illustrated in FIG. 109. Anillustration of the proximal locking clevis tube 12058 fit over thenarrow diameter portion 12094 of the distal locking clevis tube 12048will be described and illustrated in later figures described furtherbelow. The guiding slot 12102 on the proximal locking clevis tube 12058will align with the guiding slot 12096 in the distal locking clevis tube12048 when the proximal locking clevis tube 12058 is mounted onto thenarrow diameter portion 12094 of the distal locking clevis tube 12048.

The proximal locking clevis tube 12058 also includes a narrow diameterportion 12104 which defines a hole 12105, or in other words, is hollow.The narrow diameter portion 12104 of the proximal locking clevis tube12058 includes trunnions 12106. The trunnions 12106 are useful forattaching or locking the proximal locking clevis tube 12058 to the shafttube assembly 12060 when the shaft tube assembly 12060 is fit over thenarrow diameter portion 12104 of the distal locking clevis tube 12048.The trunnions 12106 fit into corresponding internal slots with in theshaft tube assembly 12060 to lock the shaft tube assembly 12060 to theproximal locking clevis tube 12058.

FIG. 111 illustrates the actuation shaft 12108. The actuation shaft12108 includes ends 12110 and 12112. The end 12110 interacts with thehandle 12068 so the actuation of the lever 12070 on the handle 12068causes the actuation shaft 12108 to move.

FIG. 112 illustrates a spring 12114. The spring 12114 is used to biasthe jaws 12042 in a distal position. This will be discussed furtherbelow. FIG. 113 illustrates a clip lock actuator 12116. The clip lockactuator 12116 includes legs 12118 and a locking projection 12120. Theclip lock actuator 12116 also includes a slot 12122. FIG. 114 is aisometric view of a distal pushrod 12124. The distal pushrod 12124includes a flat portion 12126 having projections 12128 located at oneend. The projections 12128 are what ride with in the slot 12092illustrated in the jaws 12044 of FIG. 107. By moving axially, the distalpushrod 12124 causes the jaws 12044 to open and close.

FIGS. 115 through 122 are partial, isometric, assembly views of theparts described in FIGS. 104 through 114. FIG. 115 illustrates the clip12000 contained within the jaws 12042. The distal locking clevis tube12048 has the boss 12050 defining the hole 12052 through which the pivotrivet 12056 extends to provide a pivot shaft for the jaws 12042. Thepivot rivet 12056 extends through the hole 12052 in the boss 12050, theholes 12088 in the jaws 12042 (as shown in FIG. 107) and through theslot 12122 in the clip lock actuator 12116 (shown in FIG. 113).

FIG. 116 shows the jaws 12042 and a generally open position. Legs 12118of the clip lock actuator 12116 are shown extending through the guidingslot 12096 on the distal locking clevis to 12048 and the guiding slot12102 in the housing 12098 of the proximal locking clevis tube 12058. Insome embodiments, the legs 12118 of the clip lock actuator 12116 arewelded into the guiding slot 12102 of the proximal locking clevis tube12058. The actuation bodies 12090 of the jaws 12042 extend through thedistal locking clevis tube 12048. The spring 12114 is shown through theslits 12100 in the housing 12098 of the proximal locking clevis tube12058. A relief 12130 is shown between the distal locking clevis tube12048 and the housing 12098 of the proximal locking clevis tube 12058.The housing 12098 rides on the narrow diameter portion 12094 of thedistal locking clevis tube 12048. The jaws 12042 are in the openposition and are therefore in a distal position making the relief 12130to be relatively large.

FIG. 117 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating the actuationshaft 12108 attached to the end 12112 of the distal pushrod 12124. Theend 12112 of the distal pushrod 12124 is placed into the hole 12132 inthe actuation shaft 12108. In some embodiments, the end 12112 of thedistal pushrod 12124 is welded into the hole 12132 in the actuationshaft 12108. The distal pushrod 12124 extends through the spring 12114,proximal locking clevis tube 12058, the narrow diameter portion 12094 ofthe distal locking clevis tube 12048, and the legs 12118 of the cliplock actuator 12116. The spring 12114 urges the narrow diameter portion12094 of the distal locking clevis tube 12048 to bias the distal lockingclevis tube 12048 to a distal position.

FIG. 118 shows the clip 12000 located in the jaws 12042 and an upperslanted edge 12012 is butted against an angled surface 12134 in theupper jaw 12044. Likewise a lower slanted edge 12014 of the clip 12000is butted against an angled surface 12136 in the lower jaw 12046. Inthis manner, the clip 12000 is retained within the jaws 12042. A lockingprojection 12120 on the clip lock actuator 12116 is located near thebuttress 12022. The pivot rivet 12056 is shown to be located in the slot12122 within the clip lock actuator 12116.

FIG. 119 illustrates a partial cross-sectional view with some of theparts removed for clarity. The jaws 12042 are in an open position. Thepivot rivet 12056 is located in the slot 12122 within the clip lockactuator 12116. The distal pushrod 12124 is shown in cross-section sothe front portion is removed. However, the back projection 12128 of thedistal pushrod 12124 is located in the actuation slot 12092 in theactuation body 12090 of the jaw 12044. It will be appreciated thatrearward or proximal movement of the distal pushrod 12124 will cause theprojection 12128 to slide through the slot 12092 causing the jaw 12044to move to a closed position. Once the projection 12128 reaches the endof the slot 12092 and the distal pushrod 12124 still continues to moverearward or in a distal direction, the jaws 12042 will then be movedalso in the distal direction.

FIG. 120 shows the jaws 12042 in a closed position. The projection 12128on the distal pushrod 12124 has moved to the end of the slot 12092. Thepivot rivet 12056 is shown residing in the slot 12122 of the clip lockactuator 12116.

FIG. 121 illustrates additional features where the jaws 12042 are in theclosed position as shown in FIG. 120. The clip lock actuator 12116 andits legs 12118 are shown in the distal locking clevis tube 12048. Thespring 12114 has become compressed within the proximal locking clevistube 12058. The compression of the spring 12114 was caused by movementof the jaws 12042 and the distal locking clevis tube 12048 to therearward or proximal position. The relief 12130 between the distallocking clevis tube 12048 and the proximal locking clevis tube 12058 hasshrunk drastically. In some embodiments, the relief 12130 may disappearcompletely.

FIG. 122 has some of the parts removed for clarity. The jaws 12042 andclip 12000 are in the closed position. The jaws 12042 have moved to adistal position causing the buttress 12022 to contact the lockingprojection 12120 on the clip lock actuator 12116. Not only has thebuttress 12022 contacted the projection 12120 but continued proximalmovement has caused the buttress 12122 to move into the locking void12020 thereby locking the clip 12000 in the closed position. In thismanner, the clip 12000 is closed and locked.

Actuation of the jaws 12042 is accomplished by the proximal movement orpulling on the actuation shaft 12108 (see FIG. 117). Proximal movementof the actuation shaft 12108 can be accomplished by actuating a handleassembly 12068 (see FIG. 105) or by any other means. For example, theactuation shaft 12108 may be attached to a robot or any other suitableinstrument. Because the actuation shaft 12108 is positively connected tothe distal pushrod 12124 (see FIG. 119), proximally pulling on theactuation shaft 12108 will cause proximal movement of the distal pushrod12124. Distal movement of the distal pushrod 12124 will cause theprojections 12128 (see FIG. 119) to slide through the actuation slot12092 in the jaws 12042.

Proximal movement of the projections 12128 will cause the jaws 12042 toclose. Once the jaws 12042 are closed, continued proximal movement ofthe distal pushrod 12124 will cause the jaws 12042 to move distally.Proximal movement of the distal pushrod 12124 will cause the jaws 12042to move proximally and continued proximal movement of the distal pushrod12124 will cause the jaws to open. In some embodiments of the invention,the proximal movement of the distal pushrod 12124 is provided by thespring 12114.

FIGS. 123-123 illustrate another clip 12000 that may be used in someembodiments of the invention. The clip 12000 shown in FIGS. 123-125 issimilar to the clip illustrated in FIGS. 98-102. Differences between theclip 2000 shown in FIGS. 123-125 include the buttress 12022 having adifferent exterior geometry. The buttress 12022 is attached theconnectors 12034 which, in turn, are connected to the locking wings12026 of the clip 12000. The locking wings 12026 have a slightlydifferent geometry as the clips 12000 shown earlier figures, but areshaped to correspond to the exterior geometry of the buttress 12022. Thedifferent exterior geometry of the buttress 12022 provides desiredlocking and unlocking characteristics for facilitating insertion orremoval of the buttress 12022 from the locking void 12020. The clip12000 also has bulges 12138 mounted on the upper leg 12002 and the rearbottom leg 12004. In some embodiments, the bulges 12138 assist in theretention and removal of the clip 12000 in the jaws 12042 of the applier12040. In other embodiments of the invention, appliers 1000 can be usedwith various shaped clips and are not limited to the various clipsdescribed herein. For example, other clips are shown and described inthe application titled “Narrow Profile Surgical Ligation Clip” filedSep. 14, 2012 and identified as U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/616,120 which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.

The many features and advantages of the invention are apparent from thedetailed specification, and, thus, it is intended by the appended claimsto cover all such features and advantages of the invention which fallwithin the true spirit and scope of the invention. Further, sincenumerous modifications and variations will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to theexact construction and operation illustrated and described, and,accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto that fall within the scope of the invention. All ranges cited hereinspecifically incorporate all values and sub-ranges within the citedrange.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of applying a clip on a vesselcomprising: retaining a clip in a pair of jaws by inclined surfaces on adistal portion on each leg of the clip with a corresponding inclinedsurfaces on the jaws; moving a distal pushrod in a proximal direction;sliding projections along a slot in at least one jaw to rotate the atleast one jaw to a closed position; and moving the legs of the clip byclosing the jaws.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising movingthe at least one jaw in a proximate direction with the projection urgingagainst an end of the slot.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprisingpressing a proximal end of the clip against a clip lock actuator whenthe at least one jaw is moved in the proximate direction.
 4. The methodof claim 3, further comprising moving a buttress on the clip to alocking position with the clip lock actuator when the at least on jawcontinues to move in a proximate direction.
 5. The method of claim 3,further comprising biasing the at least one jaw to a distal positionwith a spring.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising moving thedistal pushrod by actuating a pivotal handle.
 7. The method of claim 1,further comprising limiting an amount of closing pressure that can beexerted by closing the jaws.